Abiding in the Holy Spirit

ABIDING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

SCOTT MCCONAUGHEY

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ABIDING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT by Scott McConaughey Copyright © 2011 by Scott McConaughey Printed in the United States of America All commercial rights reserved solely by the author. Any part or this entire book may be reproduced and used to edify the body of Christ without permission of the author but may not be used for commercial gain. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Photograph and cover design by Buell Crawford www.scottmc.org/ Note: The advanced sequel to this book is found in the longer book, ABIDING IN THE ANOINTING

The Gathering Place Pastor Scott McConaughey Email: [email protected] Web: www.scottmc.org

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………….. 3 CHAPTER 1 – THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT……………………… 4 CHAPTER 2 – IMAGES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT……………………………. 15 CHAPTER 3 – MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD……………………………. 25 CHAPTER 4 – THE COMMUNICATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…………. 36 CHAPTER 5 – THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – PROCLAMATION.….42 CHAPTER 6 – THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – REVELATION……… 52 CHAPTER 7 – THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – POWER……………… 56 CHAPTER 8 – THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT….……………………..... 61

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INTRODUCTION And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 God desires that we give up the wines of this world and drink the new wine of the Holy Spirit. The Father’s heart is that all of His children are filled to overflowing with the intoxicating presence of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wants us to be completely influenced and governed by the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We are called to abide in the Holy Spirit, to walk with Him all day and every day. It is impossible to know God and follow Him without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Many believers have not developed a solid doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Some have been incorrectly taught. New believers need a starting point to gain knowledge of the Holy Spirit and His ways. ABIDING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT will equip you in knowing and following the Holy Spirit. This book will help young and mature believers draw near to God and be equipped to follow His voice. We need to move from knowing about Him to really knowing Him and abiding in Him. I encourage you to read and pray through each chapter slowly to increase your relationship with Holy Spirit. There is a great need for the people of God to move in total agreement with the Holy Spirit in this late hour. The spirit of this world is gathering strength to deceive all mankind to follow the flow of the river of evil. The Lord wants us to step into the river of God and stay in the flow of His Holy Spirit. ABIDING IN THE ANOINTING1 is the second book in this series for advanced training in moving with the Holy Spirit in various ministries of His power including healing, miracles, prophecy, signs and wonders. ABIDING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT is foundational and should be studied first. We encourage the believer to develop Christlike character and the fruit of the Spirit as a higher priority than developing in His power gifts. Both are vital in this hour, but God calls us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. In this way, we are prepared to overcome higher levels of resistance and we grow and mature in Christ and learn to abide in His Spirit.

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See www.scottmc.org/ for additional resources including ABIDING IN THE ANOINTING.

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CHAPTER 1 – THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 (underlining mine) The names of God reveal His essential nature, attributes, characteristics and personality. The Holy Spirit is referred to by many names. We are to be baptized into the name of the Holy Spirit. God wants us to know the Holy Spirit and experience incredible fellowship with Him. The Holy Spirit is God. He is in perfect agreement with the Father and the Son at all times. He has all the attributes of the eternal Godhead. While the Holy Spirit is completely one with the Father and the Son, He is a distinct Person of the trinity and we are to be baptized in His name as well as in the name of the Father and the Son. The name “Holy Spirit” appears 96 times in the Bible including only three times in the Old Testament. This name reveals that the Person of the Holy Spirit is completely holy in every way. He is the Spirit of holiness 2. He is the primary Person of the trinity who manifests God’s presence and will upon the earth. The second part of His name is “Spirit”. The Holy Spirit is a spiritual being who is infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, full of wisdom, grace and truth. He has a unique personality and expresses Himself in a variety of ways. David was concerned that God’s Spirit could be so grieved that His anointed presence would be taken away. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Psalm 51:11,12 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them. Isaiah 63:10 Rebellion grieves the Holy Spirit and causes God to fight against us. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit makes us alive in Christ (regeneration). He seals, sanctifies, protects and preserves us until Christ returns. We must not resist or fight against Him. He is continuously loving us and seeking our best interest. He wants to preserve us blameless and enable us to be blessed now and for all eternity. All pride, carnality, sin, idolatry, rebellion and stubbornness grieves the Holy Spirit and stands against His ministry. It is extremely foolish to resist the Holy Spirit in any way or fail to seek His perfect counsel. 2

Romans 1:4

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He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11b Jesus baptizes us and immerses us in the Person of the Holy Spirit. We are to be completely saturated by the oil of the Holy Spirit and filled with His fire. Many believers have never fully experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit and even fewer have experienced the baptism of His all consuming fire. To fully experience the Spirit in this way, you may have to diligently seek Him for some time. If you search to experience the baptisms of the Holy Spirit, you will certainly receive it in time 3. If you have never been baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, you may want to start praying in faith right now. You may have to pray repeatedly and diligently to seek God in this matter, but I encourage you to start praying to receive more of the Holy Spirit every day. Dear Jesus. John the Baptist declared that you would baptize believers with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Based on Your word, I humbly ask you to baptize me with the Holy Spirit and fire right now. I trust you to bring this to pass because You love me. I declare to You, let my life be filled with the holy seed of your word by the Holy Spirit. In Your Name Jesus. Amen. Additional Names of the Holy Spirit 1. The Spirit of God - The name “Spirit of God” is used twenty-six times in the Bible. It is first used at the beginning of creation and reveals to us that He is also a primary agent in creation. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2 The Spirit of God brooded over the waters at the time of creation. God spoke His word and the Holy Spirit manifested the action on the waters to bring the earth into the natural realm. The Holy Spirit continues to manifest the spoken will of God into the natural realm today. Waters can prophetically speak of spiritual substance 4. Human spirits are waters. When the anointed presence of the Holy Spirit comes, He hovers over a person’s spiritual waters. As the anointed minister speaks the word of God into that person by the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God brings forth the word into the natural realm. This is how creative miracles occur. In order to perform creative miracles today, we need to be filled with the Spirit and discern the anointing of the Holy Spirit hovering in the atmosphere. Then we must hear God tell us what to say so that we can say it in faith into that anointing cloud over the individual. The creative miracle will happen in the person just as it did at creation. The anointing or presence of the Spirit is essential in all Christian leaders to minister the life of the Father and the Son to His children. The Spirit of God is the Creator along with

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Jeremiah 29:13,14; Luke 11:13 John 7:37-39

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the Father and the Son. “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth” (Psalm 104:30). She (Mary) was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18b Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:20b The Holy Spirit put the holy seed of Jesus into Mary’s body. The Holy Spirit continues this work of placing the seed of the living word of God into our hearts so that Christ might be formed in our body. We should be like Mary and agree to allow God to do according to His word in our lives. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. Matthew 3:16b The Spirit of God descended upon Jesus like a dove after John baptized him. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and endowed Jesus with the anointing to fulfill His ministry calling. The dovelike quality of the Holy Spirit speaks to us of the mantle of peace. God’s peace (shalom) includes salvation, healing and prosperity. Jesus walked in the perfect peace of God and has brought peace to many millions throughout the centuries. 2. The Spirit of Christ - Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into. I Peter 1:9-12 (underlining mine) The Spirit of Christ enabled the prophets to receive revelation so that they could write the Bible. Christ means “anointed” and refers to the anointing that enables us to minister the word of God or the prophetic word by His inspiration. The Holy Spirit primarily comes to give us revelation of the Father and the Son. 3. The Helper - But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:26,27 But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. John 15:26,27

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Jesus sends the Helper to teach us all things and bring to our memories the truths that Jesus has taught us. The Helper testifies of Jesus and enables our spirit man to bear witness to the truth. It is the nature of the Holy Spirit to help us be faithful unto God and be completely obedient and blessed. A mature believer welcomes His help at all times. Only an immature person would refuse the help of the Holy Spirit saying like a child, “I’d rather do it by myself!” That is a formula for failure. 4. The Spirit of Truth - If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18 Jesus comes to us as the Spirit of truth. Jesus continues to pray for us that the Father will give us the Holy Spirit. Jesus intercedes so that we will have all the help we need to discern between God’s truth and the enemy’s lies. The truth sets us free in the liberty of the Spirit to fulfill our eternal destiny. The truth releases God’s light to us so that we can walk uprightly and not stumble in darkness. The Spirit of truth gives us confidence that we are sons of the Most High God. We are not abandoned, rejected or uncared for as orphans. Jesus loves us and wants us to have His presence with us at all times. The Spirit of truth testifies to us what is of God and what is of the flesh or the devil. We should rejoice and ask the Spirit to fill us with His truth at all times! 5. The Comforter - And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. John 14:16 KJV Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. II Corinthians 1:3-5 The Holy Spirit brings us the comfort and consolation of God who is full of mercy, kindness, tenderness and grace. God loves us and wants us to embrace us in arms of love through the comfort of the Holy Spirit. He often uses people to comfort us as an expression of the Spirit’s ministry. The impartation of God’s comfort is to equip us so that we might comfort others who go through various trials and tribulations. Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life. Psalm 119:49,50 The Holy Spirit comforts us by reminding us of the words He has spoken over our lives. God has used Isaiah 61 to comfort us many times during our trials while ministering to

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the poor. When going through trials, look to the Holy Spirit and His word to comfort you rather than the temporary comforts of this world. 6. The Sanctifier - Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. I Peter 1:1-2 5 The Holy Spirit as Sanctifier separates us unto God for obedience to God’s word. He cleanses us by the blood of Jesus, washes us from all unrighteousness and continuously prepares us to minister unto the Lord. He is the ultimate servant. The Sanctifier is at our disposal continuously to enable us to please the Father and glorify the Son. Isn’t He wonderful! The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. II Corinthians 13:14 The Holy Spirit wants to be our best friend as He communes with us and sets us apart for service. He humbles Himself to serve, cleanse, cloak, teach and equip us to follow God. The communion of the Holy Spirit is His refreshing presence that enables us to know that we belong to God and that He approves of us. 7. The Holy Spirit of Promise - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13,14 The Holy Spirit of promise is the guarantee from God that we will receive an extraordinary inheritance from the Father. We have been given many promises in the scriptures that are all yes and amen in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit brings those promises to our minds and seals our hearts with hope in the everlasting goodness of God. Hope is an anchor to our soul, and we can know our salvation is sure because the Holy Spirit seals believers and keeps His promise. 8. The Preserver - Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Jude 24-25 It is the Holy Spirit’s job to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the throne of God. His nature is to preserve God’s children. The Holy Spirit wants to preserve you and your children from sin. God has blessed our family so that our six children have been walking with the Holy Spirit for years. He has preserved them from sin while attending public schools. The Preserver has the power to keep every believer 5

See also Romans 15:16; II Thessalonians 2:13

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from the decay of sin. His heart is to see us refreshed, pure, washed, energized and full of His life. The Holy Spirit wants to preserve your rewards and enable you to stand before Jesus on the Day of Judgment with exceeding great joy. The Preserver wants you to receive glorious eternal rewards for faithful service and He comes as the anointing to enable you to perform those good works. 9. The Regenerator and Renewer - But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3:4-6 The Holy Spirit brings the renewal and the washing of regeneration to new believers. He makes all things new. He brings life to our mortal bodies 6. While we were once in darkness and death, He has brought us into God’s marvelous light and life through our faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is full of kindness and mercy. His passionate heart cry is to apply every benefit of salvation to our lives so that we are renewed to become like Jesus. 10. The Giver of Gifts - But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. I Corinthians 12:7-11 (see also Hebrews 2:4) The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift giver on the earth. He presents all the gifts of the Father and Son to us and gives us His gifts as well. Everyone loves to receive wonderful gifts at Christmas or on special occasions. God is the benevolent giver who abounds in gifts to God’s children. 11. The Spirit of the Lord - The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered CushanRishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Judges 3:10,11 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Judges 14:6 6

Romans 8:11

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Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him. I Samuel 16:13,14 The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent Lord of the universe. As the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit gives power to judges, prophets, priests and kings to do the great exploits of God. Samson received His great power from the Spirit of the Lord. David received the Spirit of the Lord when he was anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel. There are many aspects of the anointing of the Spirit. It is a great grace of God to be anointed with the Holy Spirit, and we must earnestly desire Him and His anointing. Jesus was anointed by the Spirit of the Lord to preach the gospel, heal the sick, perform miracles and do the works of the Father 7. The Spirit of the Lord gives us the ability to do all the good works of God. Apart from Him we can do nothing of eternal value. 12. The Spirit of Wisdom - Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. Deuteronomy 34:9 8 The Spirit of wisdom gives us the ability to lead God’s people. Solomon received the great anointing of the Spirit of wisdom to lead the nation and reap a harvest of enormous wealth. The wisdom of God begins with fearing, reverencing and respecting God, which leads to total obedience and loyalty. Wisdom gives us the understanding, interpretation and proper application of revelation so that we can do precisely according to the will of God. We all need to cry out to God to baptize us in the Spirit of wisdom. 13. The Seven-fold Spirit of the Lord - There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. Isaiah 11:1-5 Isaiah foresaw the seven-fold anointing that came upon Jesus. That same seven-fold Spirit of the Lord is available to us as we mature in Christ. The seven Spirits of God represent the completeness of the Holy Spirit and are noted as follows with a brief comment:

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Luke 4:18,19 see also Isaiah 11:2

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The Spirit of the Lord – Anointing for spiritual warfare, deliverance and healing The Spirit of Wisdom – Anointing to know the ways of God and lead others The Spirit of Understanding – Anointing to know the ways of man The Spirit of Counsel – Anointing to teach, equip and strategize The Spirit of Might – Anointing to accomplish great things for God The Spirit of Knowledge – Anointing to know God and His will The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord – Anointing to fear God and obey Him The seven-fold Spirit of God that anointed Jesus enabled Him to delight in the fear of the Lord and reverence God. Jesus never did anything on His own initiative. Jesus did not judge by His natural eyes or ears, but as the Spirit of the Lord gave Him discernment, Jesus acted in perfect righteousness as a Man. He is anointed as the great Judge and will deal with the wicked with a rod of iron. Daniel had the Spirit of wisdom on him so that he could interpret the dreams of the king 9. Through history, God’s Spirit has given endowments of wisdom, knowledge, teaching, leadership, authority, deliverance and so forth. We should ask God continuously for more of the Holy Spirit to be activated in our lives. 14. The Spirit of Grace and Supplication - And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. Zechariah 12:10 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26,27 The Holy Spirit anoints us to pray with great grace, supplication, mourning, travail and groanings too deep for words. We need the Spirit of supplication in order to pray through difficult seasons and to birth new moves of the Spirit. The Lord pours out His Spirit so we can agree with Him in our spirits. God determines to work through people in this way and gives us all the grace and ability to pray according to His will and power. This kind of prayer is always effectual because the Spirit make intercession according to the perfect will of God. The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29b). His perfect heart is that we be filled with the unmerited favor of God. He wants us to have everything God has planned for us so He brings us to humility so that we can receive God’s grace 10. We need to be touched by the Spirit of grace in every area of our lives.

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Daniel 4:9; 5:11 James 4:6

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15. The Spirit of Your Father - But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Matthew 10:19-20 The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of our Father, and He gives special grace to speak with anointing and power during times of persecution. Stephen experienced the Spirit of his Father when preaching to the religious crowd seen in Acts 7. His face radiated the life of God in the midst of a pack of wolves. Stephen preached with such great power that the devil manifested in the unbelieving Jews who killed him. 16. The Spirit of Power - Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. Luke 4:14 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8 In mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Romans 15:19 The Holy Spirit is the infinite power of God to perform all miracles, signs and wonders. The Bible teaches us that Jesus was anointed “with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38) so that He could do good and deliver all those who were oppressed by the devil with various illnesses and assignments. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit before He went into the wilderness to overcome Satan. Jesus came out of the wilderness filled with the Holy Spirit and with power. We need to overcome temptations and the assaults of Satan before God will anoint us with the same level of power that Jesus demonstrated. 17. The Spirit of Life - It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63 Jesus spoke to the people from His spirit to the spirits of the people. Because so many were dull in hearing by the Spirit, few could understand His parables or comprehend His teachings. We must grow strong in spirit to understand the teachings of Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1,2 The nature of the Holy Spirit is to bring the true substance of eternal life into our hearts. He anoints the word of God so that it brings us into resurrection life in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of life liberates us from the law of sin and death that works in our bodies due to our fallen nature. He quickens our mortal bodies and flows God’s life into our temples. His heart is to fill us with the life and nature of Jesus.

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18. The Spirit of Adoption - For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Romans 8:13-16 The Spirit of adoption draws us to the Father to be His children. He enables us to put to death the deeds of the body and be led into a mature relationship as sons of God. The Spirit within cries out to the Father in the most intimate language saying, “Abba”. The Spirit affirms every activity that agrees with our sonship and convicts us when we are wandering from the character of sons. The Spirit’s heart is that we would become a mature member of the royal family of God. He applies the adoption to our hearts and places us in the position of sons in God’s family11. 19. The Teacher - But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. I Corinthians 2:10-16 The Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher who instructs us in the ways of God. Our natural man does not receive or understand the things of the Spirit of God. Our spirit man can receive and be taught by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the best teacher. There is no better instructor who knows the mind of God and searches our hearts to know what is in us. He knows exactly what we need to learn at all times and delights to teach us so that we can honor the Father and the Son through perfect obedience. We must commit our hearts to sit at the feet of the great Teacher and learn how to follow Jesus from Him.

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Galatians 3:26

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20. The Spirit of Revelation - That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. Ephesians 1:17-19 Our natural eyes are veiled to the things of God, and we need the Spirit of revelation to open our eyes to know Jesus, to know the hope of His calling, to perceive the riches of our future inheritance and to know the incomparably great power that He has toward us and in us. The revelation of God to our spirits transforms us to the image of God from glory to glory12. The heart of the Holy Spirit is to open our eyes so we can behold the beauty and majesty of our great King. 21. The Spirit of Glory - If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. I Peter 4:14 The Spirit of glory radiates the nature of God’s life into our beings so that we may glorify God in the days of tribulation. The glory of God is the radiance of His splendor, the beauty and majesty of His person. As we behold Him, we begin to reflect His glory. When we keep our focus on God during difficulties, the Spirit of glory rests upon us so that others may see Christ in us, the hope of glory. 22. The Spirit of Prophecy - And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10 The Holy Spirit releases the voice of the Lord Jesus through His spirit of prophecy. This release gives us the word of testimony that overcomes the enemy13. The Spirit also gives prophetic utterances to build up the body of Christ and bring conviction to unbelievers. His voice is the sound of many waters as it flows through countless vessels of grace that are being prepared as the bride of Christ. It is amazing how the Holy Spirit can be everywhere at all times and lead Christians throughout the earth. He is infinite, all-knowing, and all-powerful, but He is ever so personal and gentle at the same time. As we learn to hear His beautiful voice, He will fill us with the spirit of prophecy so that we can declare the wonderful things of God to the nations.

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II Corinthians 3:18 Revelation 12:11

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CHAPTER 2 – IMAGES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. The Hovering Holy Spirit - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1,2 The first image of the Holy Spirit occurs at the creation event. The Holy Spirit is pictured hovering over the face of the waters. The word hovering in the Hebrew is “rachaph” (raw-khaf’); which means “to brood; by implication, to be relaxed” and is also translated “ to flutter, move or shake”. We can picture the Holy Spirit brooding over the waters or incubating the raw material of the waters in preparation to birth life. The image of the Holy Spirit as Creator is seen as a mother bringing forth life with tender compassion. He superintends over creation with a watchful gaze. The Holy Spirit is the agent who births God’s people into the will of God. He birthed the nation of Israel out of Egypt and hovered over them to bring them into the Promised Land. For the LORD’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. Deuteronomy 32:9-12 (underlining mine) The Holy Spirit is pictured like a mother eagle awakening her children and hovering over them to provide nurture, protection and food. He also spreads out His wings and takes them up to heights so they can learn to soar in the things of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was active in the wilderness journey to teach the Israelites to walk by faith in the word of God and not by bread alone. Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God”. Luke 1:34-36 The Holy Spirit brought forth the natural world and was involved in birthing and bringing forth God’s people. Then He came to overshadow Mary so that the Father might impart the holy seed of the Son of God into her natural womb. In a similar fashion, the Holy Spirit overshadows every repentant believer to impart the pure seed of the word of God into the spirit man so that he or she can become born from above and grow to become like Christ. All revelation word is implanted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The word for overshadow is “episkiazo” (ep-ee-skee-ad’-zo); which means “to cast a shade upon, i.e. (by analogy) to envelope in a haze of brilliancy, to overshadow.” We

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can envision a brilliant cloud of the Holy Spirit’s presence hovering over Mary, the willing vessel who said, “Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). The Holy Spirit imparts supernatural Spirit life only to those who are willing to receive by faith according to the word of God. He will not force Himself or the Father’s will upon any person. Those who allow Him to overshadow them will experience divine impartation and the nurturing presence of the Holy Spirit so that Christ may be formed within. He is not content that we be like eagle chicks in the nest. The Holy Spirit’s job is to bring us to full reproductive maturity to soar on the heights of Spirit-filled living. 2. The Breath of God - And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 Adam received a spirit being and a perfect connection with the Holy Spirit by the breath of God. God’s breath brought his beautifully formed body to life. Adam and Eve had perfect communion with God by His Spirit. Nostrils speak to us of the Holy Spirit’s gift of discerning of spirits, since it is God who gives us the ability to sense what we cannot see through fragrances in the atmosphere. “But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding” (Job 32:8). God’s breath provides true understanding of the spiritual realities that surround us. Just as we can easily detect when a skunk has emitted its foul spray, by the power of the Holy Spirit, our mature spiritual nostrils can detect the foul smell of demonic presence. We may smell heavenly fragrances as well. Those who are strong in the Spirit can experience spiritual fragrances on many occasions. Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”’” Ezekiel 37:4-6 Ezekiel prophesied that the breath of God would enter into the valley of old, dry bones and bring them to life as a great army of God. The breath releases the resurrection power of God through His Holy Spirit. The dry bones represent the nation of Israel in the natural. In the spiritual, the dry bones also represent all the anointings God has given throughout history that died out and have lain dormant for a long time. In the end days, the Holy Spirit will resurrect the old anointings of all the ages and combine them in one mighty last day’s army. The image of breath speaks of the reviving ability of God to bring forth life and impart the Spirit’s power. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22). Jesus imparted a measure of the Holy Spirit to His disciples by breathing on them. When the body, soul and spirit are in perfect harmony with God as

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Jesus was, the natural breath is one with spiritual breath. Jesus breathed on them in the natural and His spirit man was also breathing spiritual breath in perfect harmony. Without breath, the human brain begins to die within five minutes and the rest of the body will soon shut down. We need oxygen in our blood stream to keep all our body systems operating properly. In a similar way, we need spiritual breath to enable us to become alive in Christ and function as a mature spirit being. The Holy Spirit wants us to get our breath back and be able to run hard with Him to do His work. In order to be strong in Spirit and to receive His anointings, we need the breath of God filling our lungs day and night. “Breathe on me, O breath of God!” 3. The Heavenly Dove - And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ “And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” John 1:32-34 The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove. This beautiful image of the Holy Spirit speaks to us of His pure anointing coming from heaven to abide upon us. The dove is considered a harmless and peaceful bird that is also used as a messenger. Noah used the dove to discover if the water had receded from the earth14. His eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set mounted like jewels. Song of Solomon 5:12 NIV Jesus’ eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and mounted like jewels. Dove’s eyes represent the eyes of the Holy Spirit. The poetic language of King Solomon is a doorway into great revelation of the compassionate heart of Jesus who is full of the Holy Spirit. “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). The eyes are the windows into the heart and soul. Eyes speak of the soul of man including the inner most being, the essence of a person’s nature. Eyes speak of perception, how a person views life’s circumstances and people. “Eyes washed with milk” speaks of the purity of Jesus’ discernment and holiness. Milk speaks of compassion, feeding, nurture, tender loving care, a nursing mother, sincerity, and vulnerability. Jesus’ eyes are washed with milk. As He looks at you in holy compassion, His heart is filled with tender loving care. He longs to draw you close to His heart where you may experience His nurture, kindness and feeding. He has chosen you 14

Genesis 8:8-12

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as His bride and He will not mate with another. The Holy Spirit is one with Jesus and has this same compassionate nature. As He did for the Man Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit enables us to have dove’s eyes. Spiritual dove’s eyes have the ability to see redemptive truths. They are eyes of faith and vision. As we see through the lens of the heavenly dove we experience the vision of the Holy Spirit. His eyes impart a single focus, purity, innocence, loyalty and sincerity. A dove never mates again after his partner dies imaging perfect fidelity. As we walk by the Spirit, our eyes never wander with heart affections for any idol. Dove’s eyes also speak of true spiritual discernment, wisdom, knowledge, understanding and revelation. We all need our eyes washed with milk as the eyes of the dove. 4. Water and Rain - For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses. Isaiah 44:3,4 Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Joel 2:23,28 The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is like the rain that refreshes the earth and causes the birth and growth of crops. The soil of our hearts must be well cultivated through repentance and faith to receive the rain. Those who harden their hearts against God will see flash floods bring destruction to their lives. Water flows to the low places, and those who humble themselves will receive the grace of God’s outpouring. 5. Rivers of Living Water - He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:38,39 The Holy Spirit wants to flow out of believing vessels like rivers of living water to bring His powerful anointing of life to people. In 1998, I attended a conference where Tommy Tenny was ministering in an afternoon “workshop”. As brother Tommy was speaking quietly of his love for Jesus, the manifested presence of God began filling the room. After only twenty minutes, people were falling on the floor, crying out to God and shaking under the incredible power of God that kept filling the room. About ten minutes later, Tommy said, “I believe I feel the presence of the Lord beginning to fill this room.” At that point, about half of the five hundred people were getting completely blasted by the presence of God. Many were out under the power on the floor and no one had touched them.

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Later, I asked the Lord what this experience was and He told me that it was the release of a river of living water through the spirit man of Tommy Tenny. I was amazed and asked the Lord to use me in this way as well. I have been graced by God to be used this way a few times. God intends all of His believing spirit-filled children to release rivers of living water from their inmost being and bring revelation and impartation life to those thirsty hearts around. 6. Fire - Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:3,4 The Holy Spirit is viewed in the image of divided tongues of fire that fill God’s people with other tongues that magnify the Lord. At Pentecost, disciples spoke in known languages that were understood by people from various parts of the world who had come to Jerusalem for the festival season. The Holy Spirit makes the word of God a fire and a hammer to do His work. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Revelation 4:5 Seven is the complete, divine number of God. The Holy Spirit is complete in every way. John saw Him as seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God. Fire speaks of God’s all consuming jealous passion for His glory. The Holy Spirit is present in the throne room and releases heavenly lightning, thunderings and voices. The voice of God released by the Holy Spirit through anointed vessels has the power to shake kingdoms of men and dispel darkness. 7. Seven Horns and Seven Eyes - And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Revelation 5:6 The seven horns represent the power and authority the Holy Spirit has over all the earth. The Holy Spirit has absolute infinite power to carry out the will of God on Earth. To attribute His awesome work to the power and authority of Satan is to blaspheme Him and is an unforgivable sin if the individual does not repent15. The seven eyes represent the omniscient vision the Holy Spirit has over everything that happens. Nothing escapes His perfect eyes of flaming fire that see all things at all times. The Holy Spirit has perfect vision and knows the thoughts and intents of every heart at all times. The Holy Spirit is one with the heart of the Lamb of God in watching over His bride to bring her to full maturity.

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Matthew 12:31,32

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8.

Oil - And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. Exodus 30:25

Oil is a symbol of the anointing of the Holy Spirit that is to be poured upon everything in the service of God. All the items of furniture and utensils used in the tabernacle were anointed with oil. The priests were anointed with oil teaching us that all of our service and work unto God must be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Oil represents the person of the Holy Spirit, His gifts, ministries and power. Oil lamps in the tabernacle and temple represent the illumination that comes from the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the word of God. Oil can be seen in the prophetic flow, the presence of God and the power of unity. Oil represents the anointing that breaks yokes and sets people free to worship Jesus. Oil depicts wisdom, authority and power. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:14 Oil represents the healing power of God and is known as the “oil of gladness” 16. The Holy Spirit’s oil brings healing to the body and refreshment to the bones. The Holy Spirit heals the broken heart and brings forth the anointing of joy that is our strength. David mentioned that the Good Shepherd anointed his head with oil as a picture of the cleansing power and medicinal properties of oil17. Sheep were susceptible to parasites invading their scalp and ears as we are susceptible to Satan’s lies attacking our minds. The shepherd anointed his sheep in oil to kill the parasites and protect them from future bugs. God anoints us in a similar way to deliver us from fear and give us His Spirit of power, love and a sound mind18. Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth; therefore the virgins love you. Song of Solomon 1:3 The revelation of the names, or nature, of God is an aspect of the oil of the Holy Spirit poured forth to testify of the truth of God. When we experience the true revelation of God poured out by the fragrance of His good ointments, the pure hearted ones naturally fall deeper in love with Jesus. 9. Wine - Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth- for your love is better than wine. We will remember your love more than wine. Song of Solomon 1:2,4b The Holy Spirit releases the sweet, intoxicating wine of God’s love to our hearts. He fills us and satisfies our spirits with the delights of God’s beauty. Wine is a picture to us of

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Isaiah 61:3 Psalm 23:5 18 II Timothy 1:7 17

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the celebration and pure enjoyment of fellowship and communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Wine speaks to us of the pure pleasure of intimate fellowship with God. Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana 19. On the third day, Jesus turned the water into wine as His first miracle recorded in the book of John. The host of the feast was amazed that the best wine was saved for last. This pictures the glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days. He has saved His best wine, celebration and enjoyment for the last hour. We are about to enter into wedding feast days with Jesus, and we should rejoice for our reward in heaven is great. Wine also represents the intoxicating presence of the Holy Spirit and the preserving power of God as sustainer. God’s wine brings joy, which is our strength. Wine represents fruitfulness, pleasure and well being (wholeness). “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Wine intoxicates the individual and has a controlling influence. We are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and released in His liberty to be fully alive and full of zest, vitality and joy. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, “The old is better.” Luke 5:37-39 Jesus’ parable taught us that the new wine of the Spirit can only fill renewed hearts that are conditioned by His oil and open to receiving the fullness of the Spirit’s ministry. Wine represents new revelation and moves of the Holy Spirit as He brings the bride through developments to become transformed into the image of God. Religious traditionalists reject the joy and celebration that new moves of the Spirit bring and cannot contain the new manifestations without tearing apart their existing dry controlling structures. Rather than submit to the renewing process and change wineskins, some harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit and become like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. The Pharisee spirit resists the leadership of the Holy Spirit and does not receive the new wine of the Spirit. 10. The Glory Cloud - Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 24:16-18 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. Exodus 13:21-22 19

John 2:1-12

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The Holy Spirit is pictured in the image of the cloud that covered Mount Sinai. The cloud cover was needed to provide protection from the shining brilliance of God’s radiant splendor. The cloud over Moses’ tabernacle in the wilderness provided shade for the people of God from the brutal desert sun. In addition to protection, the cloud of His presence gave God’s people leadership and guidance. Clouds are formed by extremely small water vapors or ice crystals that are suspended by light and heat. They are one of the great wonders of the earth as a cloud carrying millions of gallons of water can float over the earth defying gravity until reaching the point of condensation. So the Holy Spirit containing all the power of God can hover over the earth and release His rain at the appointed time. Clouds are the only visible portions of the earth’s atmosphere and provide a vital transportation system to bring water to the land. The process of evaporation of water from the earth into the atmosphere by light and heat cause the formation of over 100 different kinds of clouds. In the spiritual picture, the Holy Spirit’s light and fire draws prayer from the water of our spirits into the atmosphere. As we continue to pray and minister unto the Lord, a cloud forms in the spirit over a church or region that is accumulating spiritual water. The cloud of His presence waits for the right conditions to release the rain of His presence. Rain water is vital to the life of the planet and all living creatures. So the Holy Spirit’s rain is essential to life in the Spirit. Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. Numbers 11:25 They have heard that You, LORD, are among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and that Your cloud stands above them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Numbers 14:14 The Lord hid His presence in the cloud and spoke to Moses from the midst of the cloud. His holy cloud stood above the people of God no matter what the prevailing wind conditions were. The cloud only moved when God wanted the people to move. The Holy Spirit leads us in profoundly clear ways during difficult wilderness times. Once the people entered the Promised Land, the cloud was no longer seen daily. And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. Then Solomon spoke: “The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud. I have surely built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever.” I Kings 8:10-13 The cloud pictures the glorious presence of God by the Holy Spirit. Solomon noted that this was a “dark cloud” where God would dwell. Sinners, redeemed by faith in the blood

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of Jesus, are the dark clouds wherein God purposes to reside. He wants to fill His temple with His glory once again and we must cleanse our living temples so that He can dwell in our midst in His entire splendor. 11. The Mantle - Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over. II Kings 2:8-14 Elijah wore a distinguished ceremonial robe as an outer garment called a mantle. A mantle represents the cloaking anointing that the Holy Spirit places upon individuals. The mantle Elijah wore was a symbol of the anointing that rested upon him and empowered miracles. Elisha asked for a double portion of that anointing. Elijah thought this was a “hard thing”, but it was not too hard for God. Even though the mantle did not change in size, as Elisha picked up the mantle that Elijah released on his way to heaven, there was a double portion transfer of miraculous anointing. Joseph’s multi-colored coat is also a picture of an international anointing given from the Father (Jacob) by the Holy Spirit. Joseph wore the coat as a blessing from his father to be a mighty, anointed prophet. His unrighteous brothers were jealous and sold Joseph into slavery. Even though Joseph lost the coat, the mantle of the Holy Spirit’s anointing rested upon him in developmental form. Anointings, or mantles, are often given to a person for a brief time to experience the supernatural power of God. Then the full release of that mantle is often suspended for many years as the Lord works character development into the heart of the prophet or anointed servant. This was true for Elisha, who experienced the mantle of power briefly and then served Elijah as an apprentice for twenty years to qualify to receive a double portion20.

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I Kings 19:19; II Kings 3:11

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“For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). Many are called to walk in the anointing of the Holy Spirit and wear powerful mantles given by God, but few are chosen because they are disqualified in the development and testing process that God requires to prove character. We are encouraged many times to persevere under trial and hold fast to that which is good so that we may obtain the blessings that God intends us to experience. We qualify for God’s mantle for us by walking in faith over a long time and by obeying the Holy Spirit in every aspect of our life. 12. The Wind - The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:7-8 Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4 (underlining mine) The Holy Spirit is like the wind. He moves unseen throughout the earth but has powerful manifestations of His presence when He moves in great power. Wind speaks to us of the powerful breath of God that brings life to the world. Wind comes from four different directions speaking of seasons of life that the Spirit superintends. 13. The Warrior – The Sword of the Spirit - And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17b Often overlooked in Paul’s exhortation to take up the full armor of God is the fact that the sword is only properly wielded by the great warrior God, the Holy Spirit. The audible words of scripture only have true power when anointed by the Holy Spirit. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12,13 The anointed, preached word of God has supernatural power to pierce into a person’s life and examine the thoughts and intents of their heart. The anointed word cuts away sin and delivers us from soul-realm living. The anointed word breaks mental strongholds and delivers us from the deception and lies of the enemy. I have prayed for many years to be able to preach the word in full agreement with the Holy Spirit under His anointing so that He might release through me His thunderous voice that shakes religion and death off

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receptive hearers. God’s voice is being released to shake this earth and He will continue to shake it until Christ returns21.

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Hebrews 12:26

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CHAPTER 3 – MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 God created man in His own image and commanded man to be fruitful and multiply, to populate the earth and exercise righteous dominion over it. God created man, male and female, and gave them, in the power of agreement, the authority and spiritual power to accomplish all of His will on Earth. “In Our image”, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tselem” which means “to shade; a phantom, illusion, resemblance; a representative figure, especially an idol”. God created man as a representative figure of Himself. An American ambassador is a representative of the President of the United States. Man was created to represent God on Earth. In order to represent God properly, an individual must be in loving agreement with God and other Christians. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Loving, Christ-like community accurately represents the loving community of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Secondly, the Bible states man was created “according to our likeness” translating the Hebrew word “demuwth”. Demuwth means “resemblance; model, shape; like, fashion, like (-ness, as), manner, similitude”. Demuwth denotes a strong resemblance, as a child might look just like his father. The U.S. ambassador may represent the President, but he probably does not look like him. We not only represent the Father, we are created to look like Him in character and actions. Both Hebrew words are used to describe Adam’s son Seth. “And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness (demuwth), after his image (tselem), and named him Seth” (Genesis 5:3). Seth both looked like Adam and was to be the heir or representative of Adam when Adam died. God has created us to bear His image and to represent Him on Earth. Adam and Eve failed in their responsibility to represent God and fell from His likeness when they transgressed against Him. As the human race continued to fall from looking like God, they began to look like their new master Satan. God flooded the world to destroy sinful man and saved Noah and his family who obeyed the Lord. Thousands of years later, Christ came as the second Adam to represent God (in His image) and bear His likeness without faltering.

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1. Jesus Christ, the Second Adam - And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. I Corinthians 15:45-49 Jesus became a life giving spirit. He is the heavenly Man, and we shall bear the image of the heavenly man. In Greek, the word for image means “to bear His likeness”. The Bible teaches us that we are to act as God’s representatives. We are His ambassadors 22 and we are to bear His likeness or walk as Jesus walked23. If we are to become like Jesus, we must learn to walk and dwell in the Spirit at all times. It is impossible to represent the Father and bear the likeness of Jesus apart from walking with the Holy Spirit. All efforts to follow God apart from the Holy Spirit become religious activities that do not represent the Father or bear any likeness to Jesus. Jesus always walked by the Spirit at all times. The spirit man is more powerful and complex than the natural man. The spirit man has all the sensory faculties of the natural man including, sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. We may have spiritual visions, hear the voice of the Lord and experience other sensory experiences in the spiritual man. The spirit man has a mind, emotions, will, heart and personality. As we listen to the Holy Spirit’ communication and walk in agreement with Him we will represent and model the life of Jesus as His body. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. Hebrews 1:1-3 Jesus Christ perfectly represented the express image of God on Earth in a human body. Jesus was “the exact representation of His being” (NIV). The Greek word denotes “the exact copy” or “the engraving”. The Man Christ Jesus was a perfect model of God. Just as architects develop scale models of buildings, Jesus accurately represented the image of God in a human body. The human body was designed to be a perfect scale model of God. Our redeemed bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit. As God dwells in us and flows His life to us and through us, we become conformed to the likeness of Christ and faithfully represent Him through our life of love and obedience. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). God is Spirit and has a perfect spirit body. God created man, male and female, and they accurately represent the image of God when joined in holy matrimony, living in love

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II Corinthians 5:20 I John 2:6

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and service to one another. God’s great love and power will bring the body of Christ into maturity so that we accurately represent Him and bear His likeness. Jesus Christ now has a glorified body, and He is fully God and glorified man at the same time. God designed the human body to be a natural vessel for the spirit of man to live in for a season in partnership with the Holy Spirit. The natural human body cannot live forever on a sinful planet. The spirit of a redeemed person will live for all eternity in a glorified body and contain the fullness of God 24. The glorified body that God gives His saints upon graduation from earth will have no remnant of sin and will be perfectly holy. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 Adam had a perfectly formed human body but needed the breath of God to become a living being. The breath of God represents the impartation of eternal spirit life. Every human being is a spirit being with a soul living in a body. If hundreds of physicians consulted about everything there is to know about the human body, they could describe many things to affirm that our natural bodies are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Most would admit that there is still more to learn and that a great deal of how the body works is a mystery. If the natural body is a mystery, how much more mysterious is the spiritual body that God has given us! How are we to understand the spiritual body properly when we have so few Christians who know the ways of the Spirit? It is a mountainous challenge that we must begin to climb. 2. Spirit, Soul and Body - God eternally exists in three Persons known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The scripture always speaks of one God and not three Gods. There is such absolute unity in the trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that they are in fact One although manifested in three persons. We are made in the image and likeness of God. Although we have spirit, soul and body, we are one person. Our spirit, soul and body are to be in complete unity with each other and the will of God by the Holy Spirit. When this begins to happen through the process of growth in Christ, we will be transformed to become more like Him and will more accurately represent Him. Our life will be filled with wholeness as our whole spirit, soul and body are given unto the Lord completely. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 5:23 Paul spoke of the need for our whole spirit, soul and body to be sanctified and preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God wants our whole being to be holy. We cannot have a pure spirit and a defiled body. An old doctrine of demons called dualism still infiltrates some of the Church. Dualism basically teaches that your spirit 24

Ephesians 3:19

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man is pure and undefiled where the Holy Spirit lives so you can do anything in your body and you will still go to heaven. That is not what God’s word says. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. II Corinthians 7:1 God commands us to cleanse our flesh and spirits as we perfect holiness in the fear of God. This book is not about holiness, but you will have to learn to walk in the Spirit to keep your spirit, soul and body pure. We are a unity of spirit, soul and body and what affects one part of us, affects the other parts. If your soul gets into depression, it will affect your spirit and your body. If your body gets the flu, it will affect your soul and spirit. If your spirit is filled with bitterness, it will impact your soul and body. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Galatians 6:7,8 If we walk by the Spirit, we are sowing to the Spirit and will reap the substance of the everlasting life and nature of God. This is not saying we will reap only salvation or justification by faith. God is saying that what we do in these bodies has a direct correlation to what we reap in terms of spiritual substance on Earth. A person either sows to the flesh or to the Spirit by activities done in the body. Every child of God makes choices. All choices are either of the Spirit or of the flesh. Those choices are acts of our will and determine our future in many ways. We sow to the flesh by things like watching carnal television, reading romance novels, drinking alcohol, overeating, laziness, sexual immorality, lust and many other fleshly activities. The Bible teaches us that God is not mocked! We don’t get away with any sinful behavior. God will forgive us when we confess our sins, but we will usually reap some consequences. Sowing to the Spirit may be done by worship, prayer, praying in tongues, reading the Bible, fellowshipping, meditating and other spiritual disciplines. The flesh can imitate most of these disciplines and then they are simply religious activities that feed pride. We must exercise spiritual disciplines under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 3. Cloaked in the Anointing - Adam and Eve were cloaked in the anointing of the Holy Spirit so powerfully that they radiated the light of God. We don’t know how they saw each other, but they had no concept of shame, embarrassment or humiliation as to their wardrobe. They were clothed in the most beautiful garments of all, the anointing of God’s glory. Adam and Eve radiated like a model home at Christmas time covered with brilliant lights and glorious reminders of the birth of Jesus Christ. Imagine the power being cut to those lights and the once brilliant house draped in darkness. When Adam and Eve transgressed, the power was cut to their temples and the lights went out. They lost the

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glorious covering of the Lord’s anointing on their bodies and they felt terribly naked because they really were for the first time. Before the foundation of the world God purposed to send Christ because He knew Adam and Eve would fail to maintain righteousness and keep the anointing. Christ came to restore us to righteousness and enable us to become holy, by His blood, as we allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into repentance and faith. The highest levels of anointing will be upon those Christians who are transformed to become holy as God is holy. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. I Peter 2:11 Peter understood that natural, fleshly lusts would wage war to get the soul to choose sin over holiness. Sowing to the flesh wages war against the soul, defiles a person and grieves the Holy Spirit. Many Christians suffer great spiritual warfare in their souls because they have been taught inadequately and have not been equipped to walk by the Spirit and overcome all fleshly lusts. The Holy Spirit, your spirit and the word of God give you every resource needed to overcome all fleshly lusts and soul realm assaults so you can become holy, even as God is holy. 4. The Nature of Spirit - The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart. Proverbs 20:27 God is able to search the heart of every person through their human spirit. The human spirit is the central core of every person. When a human being is conceived, he or she immediately receives the DNA of spirit, soul and body. I believe that the spirit being has immediate “consciousness” at conception and has a far greater capacity to record information about his world than the body or soul life that must form over many years. The spirit also forms and matures like the body but has an instant ability to be “programmed” in the womb. The character, constitution and nature of the birth mother during the pregnancy leaves a tremendous deposit of information in the spirit of the newborn babe. If the birth mother struggled with depression, fear, and suicidal thoughts and gave the baby up for adoption soon after the birth, this will have a powerful negative impact on the child’s development. The good news is that God can heal every hurt by His perfect love, but it can be a great challenge until it happens. The nature of spirit is such that it is indestructible. Once a human being comes into existence, he or she is a spirit being forever. Each person will spend eternity either with the Lord in glorious paradise serving Him or separated from Him in the lake of fire. Bringing a child into the world involves birthing an eternal being. This is a great responsibility before the Lord. The spirit being is not limited by time as the natural man is. The newborn spirit person of a child reaches back in time and receives the fallen nature of Adam, generational

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blessings and generational curses. The spirit of a man can also search forward and receive intuition about the future. The human spirit has tremendous power of vision and can envision great goals to achieve. The human spirit can motivate extraordinary discipline and glorious achievements in sports, business, culture and society. The soul of a person is primarily their mind, emotions and conscious will. Culture, gender, birth order, education, historical context and a variety of external factors and personal choices powerfully influence the soul. When the body dies, the spirit/soul leaves the body and goes to be with the Lord in heaven or to Hades, the waiting place for judgment. The spirit of man interacts with the spirit realm. Unfortunately, the spiritual realm is not pure at this time. One can interact with demonic powers and receive communication from demons and not even realize it. We can also receive communication from angels and the Holy Spirit in the spiritual realm. The soul must discern, by knowing the word of God and the ways of His Spirit, whether the “voice” in the spiritual realm is from God or the enemy. The body of man interacts with the natural realm through sensory experiences. It is important for man to pay attention to the bodily senses so as to provide nourishment, shelter, safety and so forth to take care of the body. The body has the capacity to become in bondage to sinful appetites and thus exert enormous pressure on the soul to choose to live by those appetites. The soul of man, in its intended function, is a bridge between the natural and spiritual realm. God has called us to live in these two realms at the same time with balance. The soul is where conscious will decides what decisions to make, what beliefs to hold, what behaviors to choose and so forth. The soul decides whether to follow the influences of the spirit or the body . God designed man in His image so that the human spirit could receive communication from the Holy Spirit and influence the soul to rule the body. A great deal of information comes to our mind (soul) from which we must make decisions about life. God designed us to submit that information to Him in prayer and wait for the Holy Spirit to speak to our spirits. This may be directly from His word or a leading that will be confirmed by the word of God. The enemy may also be sending signals in the spirit realm of confusion, fear or agitation to try and get us to make a hasty decision without hearing from God. If we make hasty decisions in fear of man, we operate apart from faith in God’s word and sin25. God designed us to wait on Him and follow His voice only. The faithful Christian will choose, by an act of will (soul), to pray and seek the Lord about significant decisions. He may read the word and meditate on truths and lay various options before the Lord in prayer. God wants our hearts to be in peace and will speak to us with a still, small voice. 25

Romans 14:23

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We will discover His will as we diligently seek Him. However, it may take much longer to hear God on some decisions than we would like. The Holy Spirit is a gentle Shepherd that leads us over a period of time as we learn to rest in Him. God does not intend for the soul (reason) to rule independent of the Holy Spirit. Most people in North America are ruled by their soul without submitting to the Holy Spirit or the word of God. Secular humanism is the exaltation of the soul realm to be one’s own god. Logical thinking, reason and common sense are aspects of the soul. When a person lives by the soul realm independent of the Holy Spirit, he or she is living in the flesh. Many people who live primarily in this realm are decent human beings, but they are on their way to the lake of fire for all eternity because they are not living by the Spirit with faith in Jesus Christ26. Few people actually live as God intended with their spirit man being strong and in complete agreement with the Holy Spirit. The spirit man was designed to operate by spiritual communication from the Holy Spirit. The communication of the Holy Spirit includes intuition, vision, dreams, senses and revelation knowledge. He is the only one who can accurately teach us the word of God. 5. Walk by Faith - “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7). The soul is primarily motivated by either faith or natural sight. Faith comes by hearing a revelation word from the voice of God and often provides direction, vision and understanding in order to be obedient to the Lord27. Faith operates by the love of God and the love of others. Operating by sight often leads us to be motivated by fear and generally causes a person to focus on self-preservation. This will ultimately lead to rejecting the Holy Spirit and relating to people with some degree of selfcenteredness. Walking by faith in all areas enables us to walk in health and God’s blessings and to fulfill God’s will. Walking by fear causes health problems, curses and hinders us from completing God’s will. Faith glorifies God, while fear honors Satan. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:7 There is a spirit of fear that can come into our soul and/or spirit man. This will control us to act fearful in many ways. The spirit of fear can fill our soul realm, as our minds are filled with paranoia, worry, unbelief and distress. God does not give us this kind of spirit but the enemy does. He wants to bind us all up in anxiety, fear and unbelief. God gives His Spirit to bring in power, love and a sound mind or a whole soul. Many Christians appear to have good hearts but their minds are filled with some religious garbage including fear. God wants to set us free from all manners of unrighteousness.

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Romans 8:13 Romans 10:17; See my book, THE JOURNEY OF FAITH, for more detailed teaching

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God wants our entire body, soul and spirit to be filled with His perfect love that casts out all fear28. God created us to love Him with all our spirit, soul and body. And He created us to love people and show His lovingkindness to them. Love is the most excellent motivation of all and most clearly demonstrates His likeness. The greatest darkness the human spirit can embrace is bitterness, which is rooted in woundedness, rejection and unforgiveness. Bitterness is a form of violent hatred, revenge and spite. Bitterness allows demonic assaults to go directly to the spirit man and defiles a person more than anything else. Jesus taught a great deal about forgiving others, and the Holy Spirit wants our spirits to be filled with mercy and grace. To keep your spirit pure, you will have to be full of His mercy towards all who have hurt you. The human spirit has the capacity to engage powerfully in the spiritual realm where angels and demons operate. A well-trained human spirit can discern angelic activity, as well as demonic activity29. The only safe and acceptable way to enter into the spiritual realm is through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the safe door through Whom we can enter into the presence of God in worship, praise, prayer and meditation. As we are pressing into higher levels of knowing God, we will discover resistance in the spiritual realm. We may not know exactly what it is at first, but we will have to wrestle against principalities, powers and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places30. 6. The Spirit Gives Life - But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11 The Holy Spirit is the only agent on Earth who has the power to give us the true substance of eternal life. The word for “give life” is zoopoieo (dzo-op-oy-eh’-o); which means “to revitalize, to make alive, give life, quicken”. Jesus used this word when He declared: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Jesus lived under the leadership of the Holy Spirit at all times. His words were a flow from the Spirit that brought the life of God to the people. Jesus said, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15). Nearly everyone in the crowd had physical ears, but only those who listened by the Spirit could hear the words of life Jesus spoke. After His teaching in John 6, all except His twelve loyal disciples left Him and one of the twelve was a devil31! And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Luke 23:46 28

I John 4:18; For further study, see author’s book, PERFECT LOVE Hebrews 5:14 30 For detailed study on this topic, see author’s book, SPIRITUAL WARFARE TRAINING 31 John 6:70 29

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Jesus knew that he was going to carry the sins of the world into the pit and experience separation from His Father. Jesus knew that He was to go to hell and preach to captives there. He also believed God’s word that He would raise Him from the dead. Jesus committed His spirit man into the hands of God, trusting God to raise Him. God wants us to be crucified with Christ and get to the place where we commit our spirit man into His hands. We should allow the Father to take us anywhere He determines during our prayers and even in our sleep. I am continuously learning to yield to God’s will and in every aspect entrusting my spirit into His hands. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. I Peter 3:18 God wants us to be put to death in our flesh man and allow the Holy Spirit to make us alive. We die to self and live to God. We release our spirit so that we can experience death and resurrection. Without embracing the cross, we cannot walk in His Spirit. The cross puts our flesh to death and places our soul and body into proper submission to the Holy Spirit in partnership with our spirit man. 7. Yoked with Jesus - Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 Operating with the soul in charge apart from the Spirit eventually burdens us with heavy yokes of fear, worry, doubt, guilt and other sinful baggage. Natural realm living, apart from the Spirit, eventually produces heavy-laden people. Jesus wants us to be yoked with Him. This is only possible as your spirit man gets into agreement with the Holy Spirit and influences your soul (mind) to choose God’s way. When your soul submits to the Holy Spirit, you will experience the peace and rest Jesus promised. When your soul operates independent of the Holy Spirit it is somewhat like driving a car continuously in reverse. Imagine driving through Los Angeles on the freeway in reverse. The stress would be unbearable. Somebody might even shoot at you! Turning around and driving normal would be a great blessing. The car was not designed to drive on the freeway in reverse. We were not designed to live in this world on soul power. It is possible but not effective or fruitful. We are created in the image of God to operate by Spirit power. As you learn to walk in the Spirit, you will begin to live out the greatest adventure possible. You will walk hand in hand with Jesus through His Spirit. You will breathe the Spirit day and night. Your spiritual senses will awaken and you will become more than a conqueror through Christ who loves you! 8. Grow Strong in Spirit - And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:40

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Luke was inspired to tell us that, from early childhood, Jesus grew strong in spirit and was filled with wisdom. Because He always lived in perfect harmony with the Holy Spirit, the grace of God was upon Him always. Growing strong in spirit begins by wholeheartedly loving God and seeking to please Him in all aspects. Worship, praise, prayer and scripture meditation are disciplines that help us grow strong in spirit. Being part of a praying church that seeks the manifested presence of God is extremely helpful to growing strong in spirit. Once we know how to walk in the Spirit and stay in the river of His presence, we will become saturated with spiritual health. Our countenance will begin to radiate the light of Jesus Christ as we walk in righteousness, peace and joy at all times. 9.

The Baptism With the Holy Spirit - I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11

John promised that Jesus Christ would baptize His disciples with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to His disciples. It is God’s wisdom that we ask Jesus to immerse us completely with the Holy Spirit and with fire. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8 We were made to be filled with the Holy Spirit in all His fullness. To be baptized with the Holy Spirit is to be fully yielded to the Spirit’s ministry in your life. It is receiving Him and His blessed gifts and all that He has for us. The disciples that gathered in the upper room were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4 All believers of all denominations and backgrounds should earnestly desire to receive all that the Holy Spirit has for them. Doctrines of man have caused many to fear the Holy Spirit and to believe that He no longer operates the way He did in the first century. The Holy Spirit is God, and He does not change. To be fully saturated, immersed and filled with the Holy Spirit is not just a one time Pentecostal event, but should be an ongoing experience.

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The spiritual man or woman, who is made in the image of God, needs continuous experiences with the Holy Spirit to be conformed to the image of Christ and to be empowered to do His works. The supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are powerful to enable us to manifest the love of God to a needy, lost world. They often come in seed form during an initial baptism encounter with the Holy Spirit. I pray to be regularly immersed and filled with the Holy Spirit. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! Luke 11:13 The context of Jesus’ promise to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask is related to gifts and continuous persistent asking, seeking and knocking. As we ask for more of the Holy Spirit to be activated in our lives, we are asking the Father to saturate us and baptize us with His grace, goodness, gifts and impartation of divine life by the Spirit. Beloved in Christ, we do not have a miserly Father who only has just a little anointing to give out and a few powerful gifts to give to an exclusive group of special people. Our God wants to baptize His children in the Holy Spirit and lavish blessings and gifts on all of them to magnify the work of His Son and show forth His goodness and power to the world. We are called to walk in the Spirit and demonstrate the life of Jesus in signs, wonders and mighty miracles. I exhort you to begin to ask, seek and knock for all that the Holy Spirit has for you!

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CHAPTER 4 – THE COMMUNICATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Matthew 13:9 Jesus exhorted the hungry hearts to dig deep to hear the voice of the Spirit in the parables and truths He taught. Many did not understand Jesus’ ministry because their spiritual faculties were not developed and they did not work at gaining understanding. There are four general ways in which we receive communication from the Holy Spirit including hearing, seeing, feeling and knowing. A. Hearing - The Holy Spirit communicates in a still small voice to our hearts and minds through the word of God and by words of knowledge. He may give us Bible verses, references or dark sayings. He gives us words of wisdom to show us the future and interpret dreams. He also speaks in prophetic words and the interpretation of tongues. When I first received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I heard the Spirit say to me for many days, “I want to fill My temple with My glory, but first My temple must be cleansed”. At first I didn’t realize the Holy Spirit was speaking to me personally. I thought He was talking about churches in general. As He continued to speak to me daily by His still small voice, I understood that He was talking to me as well as the Church, and He began a process of cleansing me so that He could fill me. I have heard what some call an inner audible voice where the Holy Spirit speaks so loud and clear that you just know it is Him. Other times, I have heard that still small voice as I pray and wait on Him. Many times, I receive scripture verses in my prayers. As my wife Glenda and I were praying whether she should take a position offered to her I heard, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”(Psalm 37:4). I told the Lord that I did delight in Him and that I did not desire for my wife to work outside the home. The Lord confirmed this to my wife and she did not take the position. A few days later, two couples slipped some money into Glenda’s purse during fellowship and it was the equivalent of a month’s salary. The Lord was speaking through those gifts that we had done the right thing and that He was well able to provide for all our needs. It is excellent to obey His voice! B. Seeing - A second way we receive the communication of the Holy Spirit is through various gifts of seeing by the Spirit. We may receive a still picture or a vision in order to see something the Spirit is communicating to us. As I pray for people, I often get a prophetic picture or a vision that speaks to me of what the Holy Spirit wants to do. God may speak to us through what we see in dreams, which usually include key spoken words and many symbols. To understand what the Holy Spirit is saying, we must

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understand the language of His symbols. There are many good books on dream interpretation that can help you grow in understanding dreams. Learning the communication of the Holy Spirit is like taking a foreign language for most of us. It is hard work to learn the meanings of pictures, symbols, dark sayings and clues the Holy Spirit is showing us. Once we understand His language forms, we can know more clearly what He is telling us to do all the time. Only those with hungry hearts will pay the price to learn to hear with spiritual ears. It is hard work, but you can do it. C. Feeling / Perceiving - A third way the Holy Spirit communicates is through feelings including emotional and physical experiences. If you were to walk into the Army Surplus store a few miles from my home, you might begin to feel a little eerie within a few moments. There are demonic forces operating in that atmosphere because of all the weapons and paraphernalia related to war in that place. Many of those weapons were actually used in various battles and were undoubtedly used to kill other human beings. Sometimes we can feel heaviness in the atmosphere from one region to another. At times we can actually feel the territorial boundaries of regions as a spirit of heaviness lifts as we cross into a new region. It is important that we learn to feel the checks and guidance of the Holy Spirit. A “check” in the spirit is a feeling of discomfort. We feel the grief of the Holy Spirit to restrain us from participating in an activity or heading a certain direction. We are to allow the perfect peace of God to lead us, along with His word. We can also feel physical pain in a place where God wants to heal a person. One time, as I was praying for a couple, I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder. I asked the man and woman, “Do either of you have pain in your shoulder?” The woman replied in the affirmative and God gave grace to pray off the assault and the pain went away. We like to say, “What God reveals, He heals!” Not all physical feelings are accurate, so you need to learn to ask people and listen carefully to the Holy Spirit. If the pain comes upon you suddenly and unexpectedly as you are praying for another, it is often your spirit man connecting with the spirit man of the other person and picking up the problems. This happens in all aspects of the prophetic voice including hearing, seeing and knowing. D. Knowing - The final general way in which the Holy Spirit communicates to us is by simply revealing directly to our spirit and we know by intuition what He is saying. Often people ask, “How do you know”? And the answer is, “You just know”. God supernaturally fills your spirit with the knowledge and it rises to your understanding. Sometimes when I know by intuition, my body experiences a physical shudder as I come to the instant realization of what God is saying to me. Recently, a sister told me a dream she had. As I was pondering the dream, my wife asked me a question which I could not answer since the Spirit was hitting me in the stomach with the knowing and I literally

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shuddered and trembled as the revelation poured into my spirit man. God gave me the interpretation of the dream, and it required some vital intercession to prevent the enemy from stealing an anointing that was about to be birthed. Under each of these four main categories, there are several specific ways that the Holy Spirit will communicate to us, and we need to learn them as we grow strong in the Spirit so we can walk in perfect agreement with Him at all times. This is not an exhaustive list of ways He speaks to us, but certainly the most common. WAYS GOD MAY SPEAK TO US 1. The “Rhema” Word of God - But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 Life and faith in God come by hearing and living by the word of God. The Greek language uses two different words to translate “word” in relationship to God’s inspired revelation. In the above passages, the Greek word “rhema” is used to denote the active voice of God. Rhema is used 73 times in the New Testament. The other Greek word used to translate “word” is “logos” which is used 326 times in the New Testament and refers to the written word of God or the sayings of God. As you read your Bible in a devotional time, you are reading the logos and it is vital that we do read the scriptures in this fashion. As you are reading along, all of the sudden, a certain phrase, promise or truth seems to jump off the page and you start to meditate on it and receive understanding. This is an experience of “rhema” word. Rhema word is the active “now” voice of God that is bringing communication by the Holy Spirit to our hearts. I do extensive research on various biblical topics. It is common for me to print out twenty pages of scriptures from my computer Bible program on a topic. Then I will read the scriptures in topical form over and over. As I do, I ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me, and invariably some scriptures seem to make no impression on me, while others practically grab me by the shirt seeking more study. Those shirt grabbers are rhema words, and I give them a great deal of attention! We don’t get rhema words unless we study the logos of God. Faith comes by hearing the rhema words, the voice of God. When we hear God’s word in this fashion and believe, our faith grows. Praying in tongues often will enhance your ability to hear rhema as you read the Bible. Anointed last day preaching is releasing the voice (rhema word) of the Lord from the scriptures. A person could preach on a million different passages. What does the Lord want to speak to the people at this time? God often gives me the topic through a

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prophetic voice experience. Sometimes, He gives me the biblical address by word of knowledge and I look up the passage to find the text. 2. The Still Small Voice – And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. I Kings 19:11,12 God often speaks to us in a still small voice. If He were to release the full impact of His awesome voice, it would blast us to pieces and shake the entire world. God’s voice is His awesome power. It is by His grace that He speaks to us gently. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 In order to hear God’s quiet voice, we need to learn to be still and quiet in our spirits. One of the habits the Holy Spirit led me into after I was baptized in Him was to sit quietly and pray in my comfortable blue chair. This is no ordinary chair! God speaks to my heart in quiet ways as I spend an hour or two in quiet meditation, worship, praying in the Spirit and often simply waiting in sweet stillness. As I pray in this fashion, I can sense, detect and discern various agitations, demonic assaults and everything that would keep me from abiding in God’s perfect peace. Since we are to allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts 32, we need to have peace so that God can lead and guide us. In order to hear God’s still small voice, you need to learn to quiet your heart before Him. When God speaks a promise of scripture to us in our quiet times, we will pray that scripture often for weeks until the burden has lifted and we have faith that God will keep His promise. In this way, the Holy Spirit often prompts us to pray for the things He wants to give us. The Holy Spirit not only prompts us, but He also gives us the grace to pray through and indicates when we’ve broken through confirming it to our hearts. 3. Prophetic Voice - God speaks to us through words of knowledge, words of wisdom, interpretation of tongues and prophecy. We will discuss this in depth in chapters 5 and 6. God releases all kinds of revelation to us through prophetic experiences as well, such as visions and dreams. The Lord often gives me initial revelation for a specific book through a dream or prophetic experience. A prophetic experience is simply an encounter with God through a dream, vision, trance, revelation, word of knowledge, wisdom, intuition and so forth. As you grow strong in spirit, you will experience many of these things from time to time. God does not speak to us the same way all of the time. He causes us to grow and depend on Him for the interpretation and application as He releases clearer revelation. 32

Colossians 3:15

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4. Dark Sayings - I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses? Numbers 12:8 (underlining mine) God speaks to people in dark sayings. Only a few like Moses have had the grace to be able to speak to God face to face. A dark saying is a prophetic riddle that requires more searching and prayer to find the interpretation. A dark saying is an invitation of the Spirit to step into deeper revelation. If we reject the dark saying and fail to pray and study it out, the Lord will not judge us as He would have to if He spoke directly to us and we ignored Him. It is His grace that causes Him to speak to us in this fashion because we are not always ready to obey Him. Many dreams are like dark sayings although they are often much longer. 5. Visions and Trances - I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. Acts 11:5 Through a trance Peter received important revelation about accepting Gentiles. A trance is the most intense form of a vision experience. It is like being fully awake inside of a dream. Everything is real and communicates powerfully. The Holy Spirit can bring a person into a trance while praying. A trance happens while you are still awake. Some dream experiences are like trances but you are asleep when they happen. A vision is a moving picture of revelation that a person sees in their spirit and may be clear or fuzzy. An open vision is like looking into a television screen and everything is usually clear. Once, when I was about to speak to a small group of intercessors, I had a clear vision of angels waiting to hear me preach. They wanted to hear what I had to say and there were about two hundred of them standing and watching me. Then I saw the throne of God coming towards them, and God Himself wanted to hear what I was going to teach on. The Lord had me study a passage for several weeks on the life of Samson and it was in my head but not in my spirit. Even though I wrote a sixteen page paper on it, I still did not have the revelation in my spirit. When I had the open vision, the revelation dropped into my spirit and I preached one of the most anointed messages I’ve ever preached. The revelation was flowing from the throne of God even as I spoke. Even though I had done my homework, I was so excited that I finally understood the teaching. The presence of the Lord was so extremely glorious that they named the room I taught in “The Glory Room” from that day on. 6. Audible Voices - And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God”. Luke 1:35

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Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” Revelation 10:4 It is a fact that people hear the voices of angels and the audible voice of God and the Holy Spirit. Jesus heard the audible voice of His Father on several occasions. God does not often speak to us in this way, but we must be open and ready for His communication in whatever form He chooses. One night, while sleeping, I heard what I believe was the audible voice of God. I heard, “Don’t worry about it!” It was a powerful, electrifying voice and I shot up in bed and exclaimed to my wife, “Did you hear that?!?” Glenda did not hear the voice. As we pondered the meaning for a few seconds, I was then hit by a powerful wave of the Spirit and I believe angels were helping impart the fear of God into me. I shook violently for two hours and trembled internally for three days as the Lord spoke to me many things and truly gave me a taste of the fear of the Lord. I know why the people of Israel did not want to hear the audible voice of God at the foot of Mount Sinai. His voice can be terrifying! My father had a tendency to worry and, as I fell into this weakness, I could easily be influenced by fear of man and get into anxiety and fear. God wanted to get all of that out of me and spoke to me in a loud voice not to worry. Then it seemed as though the angels were beating all worry and fear out of me. I came away with an entirely new understanding of what it means to fear the Lord. Do you want to receive the communication of the Holy Spirit? It is a great adventure to hear God. Those who are deeply hungry for Him will learn His ways and seek to understand the ways He communicates. I pray that you will have many glorious experiences of communion with Him as your ears open to hear by the Spirit.

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CHAPTER 5 – THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – PROCLAMATION Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. I Corinthians 12:1,4-6 God does not want any believer to be ignorant about spiritual gifts and how they function. There are diversities of gifts and differences in their administration, but the source of all gifts is the Holy Spirit and His anointing. Every believer in Christ who is baptized by His Spirit has the potential to flow in all nine gifts of the Spirit at some time in his life. The gifts of the Spirit come from God and He uses Christians to flow His life to others through them. There are three main variables that facilitate the flow of spiritual gifts in your life as follows: faith, love and the presence of the anointing. 1. The Faith Variable - The first variable required to flow in spiritual gifts is having faith in God’s word that says He gives gifts and uses people to minister His supernatural life. This is not the gift of faith but general faith in God’s word to believe that God will do as His word declares. The greater your faith is in God’s word, especially about the working of His gifts, the greater the potential that you will flow powerfully in those gifts. Your faith is one factor that will determine the measure that you will allow God to flow through you to minister His life-giving power to others. You can build yourselves up in faith by studying God’s word and praying in the Holy Spirit33. You are also encouraged to persistently ask in faith to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit34. 2. The Love Variable - The second variable in seeing God work His spiritual gifts through you is love. This includes passionate love for God demonstrated in obeying the Holy Spirit at all times35. All the gifts work by the love of God and express His love for people. Paul talked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12 and 14. In the middle of those two chapters is the chapter on love that teaches us that gifts without love are clanging gongs and noisy symbols. Faith works by love so the more love you have for God and the more compassion you have for people, the more readily the gifts will flow through you to meet their needs and help them become more like Jesus 36. Love and faith put a demand on God in prayer to increase the anointing power to set people free. As you persevere in prayer asking for the bread of more anointing, God will eventually give it to you to meet the needs of others you truly love37. 3. The Anointing Variable - The third variable in using spiritual gifts is the measure of an individual’s ability to flow in the anointings of God both personally and corporately in any given situation. The anointing is the manifested presence of the Holy Spirit that enables His supernatural work to occur. The anointing is more than a feeling; it is divine 33

Jude 20 Luke 11:9-13; I Corinthians 14:1 35 John 14:15 36 Galatians 5:6 37 Luke 11:5-8 34

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unction. The anointing comes into a room, comes upon us and works in us and through us to accomplish the will of God. We must learn to sense the presence of the Lord and His power in order for Him to work through His gifts. If we operate without His anointing, we move into soul power to try to do supernatural works. God has given me a measure of preaching and teaching anointing. The preaching anointing is more spontaneous, while the teaching anointing is more methodical and detailed. Through travel, I often give the same basic message in different places. There are dynamics in the spiritual realm that enable the anointing of God to be far stronger in some places so that the preaching has far more anointing on it. The level of anointing is a third variable on the release of God’s gifts. We can develop our faith, love and understanding of the anointing so that we can flow powerfully in the will of God and His gifts according to His leadings. In the use of all spiritual gifts, we must learn to hear the voice of God and yield to the Spirit by obeying what He tells us to do. We are going to study the nine spiritual gifts in sets of three as follows: CHAPTER 5: Gifts of Proclamation: Prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues CHAPTER 6: Gifts of Revelation: Words of knowledge, words of wisdom and Discerning of spirits CHAPTER 7: Gifts of Power: Faith, healings and miracles Gifts of Proclamation But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. I Corinthians 12:7-11 (underlining mine) The gifts of the Holy Spirit are vital power tools in manifesting the love of God to people in a world full of hurt and need. Abiding in the anointing requires that we learn to flow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as He directs us. While every Spirit-filled Christian has at least one gift operational, I believe most zealous Christians can operate in nearly all of the gifts at some point in their life with God. The gifts are from God, but we must steward them under the manifested presence of His anointing and will.

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The Gift of Prophecy The gift of prophecy enables an individual to receive communication from the Holy Spirit, which empowers the individual to speak the word of the Lord to a person, church, situation or region. Prophecy means “to reveal by divine inspiration; to predict; to prefigure; foreshow; to reveal the will or message of God.” A vital introductory level of prophetic ministry is prophetic intercession. Prophetic intercession occurs when the Holy Spirit gives the prophetic insight to pray according to His will for a person, group, situation, or region. Prophetic intercession is simply God revealing what to pray and giving the power to pray effectively according to His power and direction. It is extremely powerful prayer since it is completely God directed and focused. The gift of prophecy operates in prophetic intercession to minister the life of Jesus to people in need of His touch. It glorifies God since He is the source of this prayer. It often convicts the hearts of people and causes them to worship God. Prophetic ministry is a sign and a wonder of the Holy Spirit’s ministry on Earth demonstrating His power and confirming the gospel. Prophetic prayer often cuts through layers of counseling and deals with the issues the Holy Spirit wants to address at that moment through the intercessor. It is completely efficient, targeted intercession using the intercessor according to the wisdom of God. God knows our level of maturity, giftings and abilities and will match them up with the most urgent need He can meet through us as we are available to Him. It enables the intercessor to partner with God and flow rivers of living water to areas directed by the Holy Spirit. Prophetic ministry breaks yokes, sets people free, removes veils of darkness, prevents disasters, saves live and brings forth blessings and provisions. It has the power of impartation of spiritual gifts, truths, promises and guidance through an anointed intercessor. It has the power to move mountains by the prayer of faith. The gift of prophecy often works together with the gift of “words of knowledge”. After preaching or teaching a message, I usually have an altar call and have time for personal ministry prayer. As I pray over the group at the altar, I will ask the Holy Spirit to lead me. I may hear the Holy Spirit or just feel to start praying for a certain person. As I stand in front of that person, I will usually not lay hands on them until I can feel the sense of the anointing rising up in me. The Lord will usually show me specific things to pray in order to encourage, exhort or comfort the individual. On occasions He gives me words of direction or correction. As you move in prophetic prayer, you are exercising the gift of prophecy. The gift of prophecy is available to all Spirit-filled Christians who want to allow God to speak through them and minister His life to others. This is not the same as the office level of prophets who will operate in a much higher level of prophetic ministry including

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leadership of ministries and five-fold teaching. Office level prophets give corrective words, directive words and accurate predictive prophecy. Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. I Corinthians 14:1 In our pursuit of love, we are to earnestly desire to prophesy so that people might receive God’s love through encouragement, exhortation and comfort. Prophetic ministry manifests the tangible presence of God to people in a powerful way. It can also be a great deal of fun. I remember getting under a strong prophetic flow and prophesying over nearly 100 people, one at a time. People were stirred up by God and amazed at how He could speak to them through someone who had never met them. God can tell people specific details about their life and answer specific prayers that they had only prayed about before the Lord in private. One young lady, I’ll call Lisa, came before me and asked for a “directional word”. As I prayed about this, I heard “Go east,” and I received a picture of the sun rising in the east. So I simply repeated what I heard and declared what I saw. Instantly, Lisa started smiling and laughing. Lisa then told me that her fiancé lived in Arizona, the land of the rising sun, and that he recently invited her to relocate. The direction of the move was due east. Lisa felt this word was confirmation from the Lord, but I still exhorted her to pray and fast about it before moving. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. I Corinthians 14:31 Every disciple may prophesy, even while immature and weak. We are not to stay immature and weak, but that is where we all must start. If you wait until you are fully mature to prophesy, you will probably never learn how to prophesy. Prophecy Edifies the Church Prophecy is to edify the church and unbelievers. “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church” (I Corinthians 14:4). “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you” (I Corinthians 14:24,25). The operational gift of prophecy has a general three-fold purpose. “But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men” (I Corinthians 14:3). 1. Edification means “to provide spiritual revelation, to instruct or enlighten so as to encourage moral or spiritual improvement”. To enlighten means “to

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give knowledge or truth to an individual; to endow with spiritual understanding”. Edification builds people up in their walk with God. 2. Exhortation means “to urge or incite by strong argument, advice or appeal; admonish earnestly; to make an urgent appeal”. Prophetic exhortation means to completely encourage someone to follow Christ and be obedient to His word. To incite means “to provoke to action, stir up, urge on; to set in violent motion, rouse, provoke, stimulate. Incite implies the urging on and direction of energies toward a certain course. Exhortation means to elicit a deep and lasting response through prophetic word. Exhortation stirs up the spirit man to be motivated to obey God. 3. Comfort means “to soothe in time of grief or fear; to console; to relieve pain, to aid; to bring help, assistance, consolation, relief or solace; to give encouragement so as to strengthen and make strong”. Encouragement gives holy, good cheer to those who need strength to persevere and press through to victory. All true prophecy edifies the Church, is a sign to unbelievers and brings glory to Jesus 38. Being used by God in prophecy and prophetic intercession allows the divine nature of God to flow through us releasing redemptive power and conforming us to the image of Jesus. The Holy Spirit wants to flow His life through the anointing on prophetic ministry. We are to earnestly desire spiritual gifts and especially to prophecy. Prophetic ministry is a great blessing to the body of Christ in its pure forms. Satan attempts to counterfeit every genuine ministry of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to discern the truth in all things by seeing through a pure heart and the knowledge of the word of God. Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. I Corinthians 14:18 The Apostle Paul testified that he prayed in tongues more than all of the Corinthians, who were noted for some problems in this area. Praying in tongues is a glorious gift of the Holy Spirit that often opens the doorway of the Spirit into additional revelation. But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? I Corinthians 14:6 Paul was not teaching that tongues was in contrast to revelation, knowledge, prophesying or teaching. Paul was declaring that tongues are the doorway to these precious gifts. When we pray in tongues, we are praying mysteries back to God39. As we pray these 38 39

I Corinthians 14:3,4,24,28; Revelation 19:10 I Corinthians 14:2

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mysteries unto God, our spirit man begins to gain the understanding, often through vision. It may take hours, days or months of concentrated prayer in other tongues before the revelation, knowledge or teaching is released to our understanding. God has graced me to write twenty-five books. Nearly all of those writings began as interpretation of tongues. Before I wrote my first book, a prophet declared that I would write many books. Then I prayed in tongues hours each day for thirteen months. After that year and a month of tongues, God released the anointing and revelation to enable me to begin writing books. Praying in tongues many hours each day is mysterious, but it does form spiritual fruit that we will eventually reap. The interpretation or revelation of the tongue is essential in edifying the body of Christ. The human mind cannot comprehend spiritual truth unless revealed by the Spirit through our spirit to our minds. This happens through the apostolic life of being devoted to prayer and the ministry of the word. “But we will give our selves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). The divine record is intentional in establishing prayer first and then the ministry of the word. The first century apostles continually devoted themselves to prayer. They prayed in tongues often, probably hours every day. I believe many things are accomplished by praying in tongues that we cannot understand. While praying in tongues, we may empower angelic activity. God hears our prayers and dispatches His angels in response, as seen in Daniel 9 and 10. There is a spiritual war in the heavenlies and our praying through in tongues can enable the angels to overcome. While praying in tongues, we may be interceding for another nation. We may be allowing the Holy Spirit to root out deep issues of sorrow or sin in our lives. The fire of the Holy Spirit may be released by praying in tongues to burn up weed seeds that lay dormant in our lives. Praying in tongues is extremely practical in ministering to others. When I pray for a person and do not know how to pray specifically, I often pray in tongues until I get an interpretation in the form of a Bible verse, a clear leading or picture from the Holy Spirit showing me how to pray. This leads to prophetic intercession, as I mentioned above, or the release of prophecy. Other times, I pray that the Holy Spirit will simply minister to the individual as I pray in tongues directing those prayers toward that person. God may lead me to pray for family members who live a long way from us in that manner. I have confidence that the Spirit of God prays through me with groanings too deep for words and His prayers are effectual. Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. I Corinthians 14:13. As we pray in tongues, Paul exhorts us to pray that we may have the interpretation. The interpretation unlocks revelation, knowledge, understanding and prophetic words to be prayed or declared over individuals, congregations, cities, regions or nations. Many

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Spirit-filled churches have lost the zeal for tongues and interpretation due to fear of man and respectability. The Church is not complete without these gifts operating. In prayer meetings, it is important to pray through in tongues until we receive some interpretation. Since this is also a gift of the Holy Spirit and a supernatural power, we should regularly ask the Father for this good gift. When I first received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I would pray a “sentence” in tongues and then say back a sentence in English as fast as I could. I said the first thing that came to my mind after the tongue. I believe that most of the time, the second sentence was an accurate interpretation of the tongue. You might want to try that some time. If you get bogged down in your natural mind trying to figure out what you said, you won’t have the interpretation. The interpretation is a gift of the Holy Spirit also. It should flow just as smoothly as the tongue before it. Watching Over Children in Prayer Glenda and I knew when we had six children in close succession that one day we would have teenagers growing up in a fallen world. We have been led by the Spirit to keep all of our children in public schools in North Los Angeles County. Everything under the sun goes on in Los Angeles County schools. We studied many Christian books as our children were young and raised them with lovingkindness and consistent discipline. We taught them the word of God and how to pray and walk with Jesus. But what could enable us to watch over teenagers and protect them in this fallen world? The Holy Spirit has given us interpretation of tongues, revelation, discerning of spirits, dreams, visions and wisdom to be warned of impending dangers impacting our children. They also receive revelation about their friends and what is really going on behind the scenes. We can sit down with any of our children and share the dream or revelation and they listen intently. All of our children are passionate lovers of God, walking in the Spirit and being used powerfully by God to minister His life to others. They walked in the midst of public schools and maintained a testimony of salt and light. We watch over them in prayer and are able to share prophetic insight with such accuracy that they see God’s hand in it. The Power of the Tongue We are created in the image of God, whose voice has creative, life-giving power. God spoke and all that was made came into existence. God’s word is His voice to us today. We are to live by faith in God’s voice. God calls us to meditate on His word day and night40. We meditate on the word of God by saying it out loud over and over again, thinking about its meaning. This is a conscious choice of the soul to use the body (mouth) to feed the spirit. As we fill our heart with the word of God, the Holy Spirit can bring a word out of our mouth to make prophetic declarations or minister life to a person in need. 40

Joshua 1:8,9; Psalm 1

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A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:20,21 God wants us to make faith declarations in agreement with his word so that we will experience His blessings. He wants us to use our tongues for life. Through confession of our sins, the tongue leads us into life-giving forgiveness including salvation41. The Bible teaches us that a wholesome tongue is a tree of life and the tongue of the wise promotes health42. High praise from your mouth wars against the enemy 43. Satan is overcome by the word of our testimony 44. Our faith declarations have tremendous power45. But we cannot just declare anything we desire or read in the Bible and expect to get it. It must have the leading of the Holy Spirit. This leading comes as you pray for a long time in tongues. Then God may give you the interpretation in the form of a verse, phrase of the Bible, promise or other revelation usually related to the word of God. Whatever God gives you, He wants you to declare and believe. Rivers of living water can be released from your inmost being through anointed words46. Our voice can release prophetic words of God. God’s words bear fruit and accomplish what He pleases47. There is great power in blessing people, and the body of Christ is learning to bless and not curse. The tongue can release words that defile and deceive causing death 48. Evil words can pierce like a sword49. A perverse tongue breaks the spirit of man 50. The power of death through the tongue is released in lies, false witness, accusation gossip, criticism, grumbling, boasting, flattery, mocking, sowing discord, strife, seduction, oppression, deceit and bitterness51. Various demonized people, including Satanists, curse Christians. As we pray in tongues, the Lord may reveal a specific curse to stand against. Curses form weapons that assault us in the spiritual realm. We are given the authority to stand against them so that no weapon formed against us can stand52. We need God’s fire to cleanse our lips53. Praying in tongues many hours a day releases more fire into our hearts to deliver us from unclean lips. Anointed Christians who 41

Romans 10:7-10; I John 1:9 Proverbs 15:4;12:18 43 Psalm 149:5-9 44 Revelation 12:11 45 Romans 4:17; Mark 11:22-24 46 John 7:37,38; Proverbs 18:4 47 Isaiah 55:10,11 48 Matthew 15:17-20; James 1:26; 3:5,6 49 Proverbs 12:18 50 Proverbs 15:4 51 Jude 16-19; Psalm 31:20; 64:3; 140:3; Jeremiah 9:3 52 Isaiah 54:17; Jeremiah 18:18; Hosea 7:16; Psalm 64:3 53 Isaiah 6:6,7 42

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criticize others are getting into agreement with the accuser of the brethren and can loose terrible weapons of demonic assignments against them. God calls us to love one another and to let our love cover a multitude of their sins. Satan wants to Keep you from Praying in Tongues There has been a great deal of false teaching about tongues from some Christian leaders including myself many years ago. I know the arguments of the devil related to tongues because I believed them and taught some of them. I heard a pastor tell me once that tongues were from the devil! I never taught that, but I thought it might be true. A cultic group that did not believe in the divinity of Jesus once approached me. They spoke in tongues often. Some of the enemy’s forces, lost souls in cults, do speak with other tongues. Demonic tongues are a powerful counterfeit that cause many Christians to shy away from tongues. In some meetings, for the sake of “unity”, the leaders agree not to allow the manifestations of the gifts, especially tongues so as not to offend brothers and sisters. I understand the reasoning behind this, but I am troubled by the policy. The Holy Spirit is handcuffed at some of our meetings because we will not let Him move on us in two or more of His good gifts. We must pray that God will break down the walls so that we can pray in the Spirit together. True unity only comes as we all submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and trust Him to do as He wills. Some spirit filled leaders teach that tongues should only be used as a prayer devotional language (with the implication, when all else fails). They may also teach that tongues should not be used in the general assembly of church because it embarrasses people. Paul placed order on the use of tongues not restriction. The Bible says, “Do not forbid to speak with tongues” (I Corinthians 14:;39). Paul limited the Corinthians to two or three tongues per meeting with interpretation54. We almost never see Biblical tongues and interpretation used in the main meetings at most churches. The Bible declares that there are “different kinds of tongues” (I Corinthians 12:10). I have experienced many different kinds of tongues, as have most intercessors. One “different” kind of tongue is the warfare tongue. I do not fully understand it, and I cannot generate this tongue, but when it comes, it is the most powerful utterance I ever receive. God wants us to appreciate His gifts and use them for His glory. We need them in order to fulfill His call on our lives. Pentecostal Fire Power But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8

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I Corinthians 14:27

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Jesus promised that His disciples would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Jesus prophesied that believers would speak with new tongues confirming Isaiah’s word55. John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize believers in the Holy Spirit and with fire. The Church was birthed on the day of Pentecost and the believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit and with fire. “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them” (Acts 2:3 underlining mine). The Greek word for fire is “pure” that means fire or lightning.” Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire form the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Revelation 8:3-5 I believe that praying in tongues can release a lightning fire from the throne of God. “Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire”. Tongues can place us in agreement with the tongue of God and release devouring fire to His enemies. Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them”. Jeremiah 5:14 The enemy is deceived, but he is not stupid. He does not want God’s words to be like fire in your mouth because it wrecks havoc on his kingdom of darkness. Souls are bound up by demons and their strongholds in the mind. The fire of God’s word can come like lightning and strike down all those strongholds and burn up those demons56. Tongues and interpretation of tongues is often the entrance into the throne room where the seven Spirits of fire burn before the throne. Tongues of fire must purge our lips and get our lips into agreement with the voice of God so that we can release His fire on Earth. I encourage and exhort you in the Lord to pray in tongues a great deal. Praying in tongues will help you learn the ways of the Holy Spirit and how to abide in His anointing.

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Isaiah 28:11; Mark 16:17 Psalm 97:3,4

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CHAPTER 6 – THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – REVELATION For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, … to another discerning of spirits… I Corinthians 12:8,10b There are three revelation gifts that can flow to the believer through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The scripture mentions the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge and discerning of spirits. Each one of these gifts unveil our natural minds so that we can perceive, know and discern things by the power of the Holy Spirit. To abide in the anointing fully, we need to learn how to operate in these gifts as God gives them to us. Jesus promised us that if we would ask, seek and knock that we would receive, find and have the door opened to us57. It is important that you earnestly desire the gifts and ask the Lord for them as He places the desire upon your heart. The Word of Wisdom The word of wisdom is a powerful gift of the Holy Spirit that often gives revelation about a future event and what to do about it. Joseph used the anointing of the word of wisdom while interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams. Joseph knew by God’s wisdom that the dreams concerned the future weather conditions and how that would affect crops and lives. Joseph also knew by a word of wisdom what to do to prepare for the future. I believe that accurate dream interpretation is often an aspect of the word of wisdom. God has given me an anointing to interpret some individual’s dreams. God occasionally gives me instant understanding of the meaning of strange and complex dreams. On the other hand, people email me dreams or tell me their dreams and I draw a complete blank. The word of wisdom is a release of revelation by the Holy Spirit and not the interpretation of symbols and signs using dream books. I’m not against using those methods, but those are not supernatural like the gift of the word of wisdom. In order to pay the temple tax, Jesus told Peter to cast a hook into the sea, pull out the fish and take the coin out of its mouth 58. Jesus had a word of wisdom. He knew that the fish Peter would catch would have a coin in its mouth. He knew this by revelation from the Holy Spirit. Peter did something he could do, fish, and God blessed his efforts supernaturally. The word of wisdom is the supernatural release of God’s wisdom to enable us to be faithful unto God and bear maximum fruit. Solomon exhorts us in Proverbs to love wisdom and seek after her with all our heart. Wisdom is personified in Proverbs 8 and 9 as a woman and a wise mother. Wisdom is the Person of the Holy Spirit who has all the

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Mathew 7:7,8 Matthew 17:27

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best qualities of a righteous mother and more. If we love wisdom and the anointing of the Holy Spirit with all our heart, God will lead us into His blessings. The word of wisdom can give the application of knowledge as Joseph did with Pharaoh. This wisdom is beyond natural wisdom and is received by the Spirit. This gift may also involve the understanding and application of scriptures in a way that brings wisdom. It is essential for Christian leaders to learn how to pray and devote themselves to the ministry of the word of God by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, including this powerful gift of the word of wisdom. As we learn to pray and wait upon the Lord in all things and walk by revelation knowledge and wisdom, it will adequately prepare us to walk through any and all challenging situations that will occur in days ahead including tribulation. The Word of Knowledge The word of knowledge gift gives factual information to us from the Holy Spirit. These facts can be about the past or the present. It is probably the most dramatic gift used by prophets. Some who are strong in the prophetic receive amazingly detailed information about people they have never met before. Prophet William Branham flowed in a high level of this gift. All of God’s children can flow in this gift at some level. I have seen this gift flow great encouragement and comfort as I have ministered. After ministering at one meeting with the word of God, I invited people to come forward for prayer. As I was praying over two ladies, the power of God came on them and they ended up side by side on the floor. Then I heard the Lord say, “Tell her that her father is with Me.” That saying was a clear word of knowledge. I had never met these two women before in my life, and I wondered which woman so I asked the Lord. He showed me the one on the left. Let’s call her Mary. I prayed a little longer about it and the Lord confirmed the word several times. So I knelt down beside Mary and whispered in her ear, “The Lord told me to tell you that your father is with Him.” Immediately the woman began to cry out and sob for a long time. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not, but I had done what the Lord told me to do and went on to pray for several others at the altar. Mary came to me after the meeting was over and told me that five days earlier the Holy Spirit had spoken to her and had said, “Your father is with Me in heaven.” Mary wanted to believe the word but was looking for confirmation. Mary’s father had died suddenly of a heart attack, and she was not sure if he had ever accepted the Lord. Mary was extremely encouraged and comforted as the word of knowledge given to her by the Lord was confirmation. Many prophetic words are confirmation. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” Nathaniel said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” John 1:47,48

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In this example of the word of knowledge, Jesus received information about Nathaniel through a vision. Jesus flowed in this gift throughout His ministry. Jesus clearly knew which disciples to choose as His apostles after spending all night in prayer59. But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?” Mark 2:8. Jesus received information about the religious leaders by knowing in His Spirit what they were thinking. This is an aspect of intuition given by the Holy Spirit. Many healing ministers feel the physical symptoms that God wants to heal in the room. God releases specific words of knowledge in this way. We may also feel what a person is going through and have a word of knowledge in that way. That is very common in my ministry. God may speak through pictures, visions, the word of God or information by the inner voice. It is amazing to me how the Holy Spirit works. I just love to flow in these gifts and people are always blessed to hear from God and receive the personal encouragement. Discerning of Spirits The gift of discerning of spirits enables a believer to perceive what is happening in the spiritual realm with which they are in contact. This gift enables a person to know what the motivating spirit is behind certain words or actions of another. This gift is not a function of natural reason, but like all the others, is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s revelation. God has given me strength in this gift and it comes with a challenge. When we see demonic forces influencing brothers and sisters, we must keep our hearts in mercy and allow love to cover a multitude of sins. That is easier said than done, but God insists that we learn to love one another. My spirit man has become more sensitive to the spiritual dynamics in a room, church or geographic reason so that I can actually begin to feel what is in the atmosphere. This is a wonderful gift when God is pouring out His glory, since one can feel the anointing, perceive angels and see wonderful things. However, when a situation is filled with demonic activity, I can get agitated and even sick to my stomach. It has never been my goal to see the demons, but at times, the Lord opens my eyes to see them and/or smell them. When I get hit hard in a place or region, I will carry the burden before the Lord with intense prayer until He shows me what it is. After a while, I have learned to recognize the same spirits operating in different regions. The Edomite spirit, named after Esau who wanted to kill Jacob, is a spirit of jealousy, hatred and murder that seeks to bring division to the body of Christ. In our region, I have 59

Luke 6:12,13

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directly encountered that spirit twice in five years. It is one of the most oppressive spirits I have ever encountered, and if you have hidden hurts or unforgiveness in your heart, that spirit will pressure you into manifesting rage. The only way to overcome it is in deep humility and love for the brethren. That spirit fuels suspicion rooted in fear and attempts to pressure a person to be critical of other Christians. If one gets into agreement with it, they will loose powerful word curses with the tongue that have significant power. In our area, that spirit is a principality whose job it is to keep the churches out of the unity needed to break through into revival. By the grace of God, and after some failure, we are learning to discern and overcome that spirit as it comes to assault our minds and destroy our unity. Jesus clearly discerned the spirit motivating the Pharisees and told them outright, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me” (John 8:44,45). We have to be extremely wise in using this gift and declaring what God is showing us. The Holy Spirit wanted Jesus to declare this truth to the religious leaders who hated Him and ultimately killed Him. Discerning of spirits is a vital gift for leaders of God’s church so that they can pray accurately against the enemy and teach the people so that they can stay free from evil influence. Unfortunately, most of us have been immature in the application of revelation at some point. God does not want us to be suspicious of people just because we feel uncomfortable. We need to know by the Spirit what is going on and know by the Spirit what to do about it. Most of the time, the Lord alerts me to avoid deception and to intercede. God has given me dreams about well-known Christian leaders whom I’ve never met. In these dreams, the Lord has revealed what demonic spirits are assaulting them so that I can pray for them. To walk in a higher level of this gift requires a diligence to repent of all heart idolatry and perfect holiness in the fear of God. We will need the hot coal on our lips to keep us from speaking out what we see and feel in others. When the Spirit wants us to speak it out, our hearts must be humble and full of mercy. Let me add a word of caution in using the revelation gifts, especially the discerning of spirits. None of these gifts operate by the analytical mind. All of them operate by a flow of revelation that comes from the spirit man. Some have described it as bubbles floating to the surface of the water. You cannot make the revelation come. Learn to trust God to flow His revelation to you because He loves you as His son60.

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John 5:20

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CHAPTER 7 – THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – POWER There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. I Corinthians 12:4-11 (underlining mine) The Holy Spirit administrates all the spiritual gifts at all times. There are differences in the way that He administrates them through different personalities, but the same Lord works them through all people. These gifts are given to benefit other people. The Spirit wants to edify, exhort and comfort people through His gifts. He will also give prophetic words, healings and miracles through the gifts. In this chapter, we will examine three gifts that are known as the “power gifts”. These three power gifts are faith, healings and miracles. The Gift of Faith The gift of faith is a supernatural release of “God faith” to a person to accomplish a specific purpose at a specific time and place. So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:22-24 Jesus taught us that this supernatural gift of faith has the ability to cast mountains into the sea. God may not lead us to cast mountains into oceans, but whatever miracle He wants to accomplish through us, He can give us the supernatural gift of faith at that moment to make it happen. The gift of faith rests on us for a brief time to accomplish God’s purposes and then lifts. This gift operated in the Old Testament as Daniel shut the lions’ mouths by faith and Samson did mighty exploits by a supernatural faith that came upon him. Elijah and Elisha walked in supernatural faith as they performed miracles by the Spirit of God. Jesus and His disciples walked in this gift of faith from time to time. This gift is available to us at the Spirit’s leading. The apostles wanted to grow in this kind of miracle faith and asked Jesus to increase it in them.

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And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” Luke 17:5-10 Jesus taught the beliefs, attitudes and actions that we must have in relationship to miracle working faith. First, we must believe in the power of supernatural faith. This kind of faith enables us to do whatever God wants us to do so that we can say to a mulberry tree or any object to go to the sea and it will obey us. This kind of faith comes on us and it is as if God Himself is talking through us. Jesus tells us that our attitudes must be as humble servants who put God first in every aspect of their lives. Those who increase in miracle faith are servants of the people as well. Jesus teaches this parable to show us that our actions must include ministering unto the Lord as we wait on Him. We worship, pray and praise Him to give Him spiritual food and drink. We offer up our lives as living sacrifices and we wait on His direction. When God gives us direction with supernatural faith to release prayers or miracles of some kind, we must maintain the attitude that we are unworthy servants, only doing what our Master commanded. Otherwise, pride can begin to take hold of our lives as we think we actually had something to do with the miracle. All the gifts are to be used to glorify God and minister His life and love to people in need. Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Mark 4:39-41 Jesus demonstrated the gift of faith as He rebuked the wind and it obeyed Him. Jesus only operated by the unction of the Holy Spirit, and He was a pure channel through whom God accomplished all of His good pleasure. We must seek to become pure vessels so that God can flow through us in supernatural faith at any time He wishes. As we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will conform us to His image and we will have the anointing come upon us to walk in these levels of faith as the Spirit wills. The Working of Miracles The working of miracles is a supernatural gift from God to work a miracle. It is an intervention of God in the course of nature or natural laws. The Bible is full of miracles,

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such as the ten plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, Jesus turning water into wine, feeding five thousand people, and walking on water. Elijah had power over natural weather patterns and Joshua prayed for the sun to stand still. These are all examples of miracles. Miracles are signs and wonders that magnify God and bring Him glory. Miracles demonstrate God’s power and astonish people. Miracles can bring blessings and curses at the same time. The ten plagues in ancient Egypt were a blessing to release captive Israel and a judgment curse on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The working of miracles are attesting signs and wonders that authenticate the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus often pointed to His miraculous works as proof of His messiahship. Jesus did miracles and healings no one else had ever done. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:11-14 Jesus has given us His Spirit so that we can do the works that He did as we learn to pray and walk in His anointing, completely yielded to the Holy Spirit. God entrusts the power of His anointing at this level to those who have been purified by many trials. Because so few walk in true holiness and faith, very few walk in miracle power today. But God wants us to be encouraged to pay the price to grow into this anointing and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us with signs and wonders. The Gift of Healing The gift of healing is the supernatural manifestation of God’s healing power over sickness and diseases without natural means. A healing is the removal of a sickness or disease in a specific part of the body, while a miracle is creative. If a man had one leg amputated, he needs a creative miracle to grow a new leg on his body. God used Smith Wigglesworth to declare a creative healing miracle to a man with both legs amputated at the knees. He told him to go buy a pair of shoes the next day and he would be healed. The man obeyed and God grew legs and feet on him as the shoemaker watched in amazement. In order to flow in the gift of healings, we must step out in faith and begin praying for people with sicknesses and diseases. Sometimes we will be given a specific leading of the Holy Spirit and an instant healing will take place. Other times, the healing will be gradual over a period of many prayer times. Sometimes, people don’t get healed because our faith, love or anointing level is not fully mature. We shouldn’t give up when that happens. We must continue to seek God and believe Him to work through us to heal the sick.

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Many times, God heals people during a worship service without any prayers being offered or laying on of hands. There are places in the scriptures where healing is commanded, flowed through the laying on of hands or there is anointing with oil and prayer. God works in many ways to heal, and it is His nature to heal sick and diseased people. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. Luke 6:19 Jesus flowed in the gift of healing with tremendous fruitfulness. Any person who came to Him with a need of healing received their healing. In meetings of 10,000 people, Jesus healed every single sick person there. God wants His Church to flow in the same power. We are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. We are the body of Christ, and as we mature into the full measure of the stature that belongs to Christ, we will heal all who come for prayer. The simple act of coming for prayer is all the faith any individual should need to be healed if we operate in a strong anointing of healing. Some ministers blame the people for not receiving their healing saying that they did not have enough faith or that the devil robbed it from them when God gave it to them. Jesus never blamed the people or even required the people to believe in Him to be healed. Dead people got raised, and they had nothing to say about it. Sometimes healing involves the deliverance of demons. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). The devil and his demons cause a great deal of sickness and disease. Jesus healed all who were sick and delivered the demonized from Satan’s grip. We need to pray for the gift of healing to operate through us as the body of Jesus to see the same works that He saw. We can do this through team ministry and the power of agreement. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to the body and distributes them as He wills. Praying in groups over the sick, or at least in teams of two, is God’s idea for releasing His power through His body. As we flow in unity of the Spirit, God will use the body to release faith, healings and miracles. In the past, we have seen wonderful models of what God can do through certain powerfully anointed individuals. God is going to continue to use individuals, but He will increase the power through teams where no one is looked upon as the “superstar” Christian. It is important that we pray for God’s anointings and gifts to fall on our congregations and cities in addition to seeking the gifts for our families and ourselves. All nine gifts of the Holy Spirit are available when the Holy Spirit dwells inside you. Believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at conversion and gain access to the gifts of the Spirit through the baptism of the Spirit. However, the Spirit requires faith as a prerequisite to releasing His gifts. Trials and obedience to the leading of the Spirit and

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the word test that faith. We can never earn or buy a gift or anointing, but we do have to buy the oil of the Spirit by allowing God to deal with our heart condition. We also need to study and believe God’s word and position our lives through prayer and fasting to receive what God wants to give us. As we respond to the Spirit and go on local or international mission trips, He can use us to flow in the supernatural gifts of faith, healings and miracles. The primary purpose of these gifts is to glorify God and demonstrate the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to lost people. Miraculous healing and deliverances draw people to meetings where the anointing and the proclamation of the word of God has the power to save souls from eternal damnation. It is most common to see five-fold evangelists flowing in the power gifts of the Holy Spirit as God wants to reach as many people as possible. Jesus flowed in miracle power and attracted huge crowds wherever He went. The healings and miracles did not save the people, but it did bring them to a point where they heard the teachings of Jesus and could decide to follow Him or not. Those who chose not to believe in His teaching and follow Him were judged more because the works authenticated His ministry.

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CHAPTER 8 – THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-26 As we learn to walk in agreement with the Holy Spirit, He transforms our character over time to be like Christ. His character enables us to love God with all our hearts and to love people. He fills us with supernatural joy as we trust in Him. Knowing God enables us to bear the fruit of peace even in trials and tribulation. The grace of the Holy Spirit enables us to hang on with patience during the tough times. His tenderness produces kindness in us as we become sensitive to the needs of others. His generosity and abounding goodness works into us so that we are overflowing in practical help towards others, especially the poor. The faithfulness of God works into our lives so we keep our words and become faithful to His call on our lives. His deep dealings produce gentleness deep within. Jesus is humble and gentle and when we walk yoked with Him we become like Him. Finally, the Holy Spirit produces powerful convictions that enable us to have self control. We do not run after sin as we once did and we will not follow a strange voice. His presence enables us to crucify the flesh and its passions so that we walk in His liberty and obey Him completely. Jesus is looking for lasting fruit in our lives which is only produced by walking with the Holy Spirit. Learning to walk with the Holy Spirit is a great adventure similar to a new born learning to walk. At first, we don’t know how to walk. As we grow, we start to crawl and eventually, with the help of loving parents, we learn to take a step or two and quickly sit back down or fall down. Learning to walk in the Holy Spirit takes time and practice. There is no condemnation from God during the development stages. He does not want you to be a baby for long. It is important that you submit to the leadership of spiritual parents who are loving and know how to walk in the Spirit. They will teach you. The Holy Spirit will also teach you how to walk as you learn to hear and perceive His communication. There are several basic things that will help you learn to daily abide in the Holy Spirit so that His lasting fruit can be produced in your character. 1. Become an active member in a spirit-filled local church – It is vital that you attend church as much as you can and be around mature believers. Attending prayer meetings and special meetings can help you grow tremendously. When you believe God is talking to you and you need help, ask your leaders for confirmation and accountability.

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There are some Christians who have left the local church and try to make it on their own. If your arm were to walk away from your body, it would not make it for long before it would die. The church may be imperfect but it is God’s idea and is called the body of Christ for a reason. We need the life blood of the body to sustain us and enable us to function and the body needs us to do our part. 2. Worship God – Spend time on your own worshipping God in addition to corporate worship. Use CDs, learn an instrument, sing, shout, praise, rejoice and exalt the Lord. The more you draw near to God, the more He will draw near to you. God has graced my family with a bent towards music. It is wonderful to hear my children playing the piano or violin and singing praise to God. The house fills with His presence. 3. Read and Study the Bible – The Bible is spiritual food. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read and study the word of God. Ask questions about key verses and think about what they mean and how them might apply to your life. 4. Pray – Learn to commit everything to God in prayer. Talk to God and listen for His answer. Pray in tongues and ask God for the interpretation. Learn the various forms of intercession as you mature. 5. Obey – Learn to do what the Holy Spirit shows you to do. Everything He says to do will be backed up by the word of God. Repent of old sinful habits and forsake them. Start doing the things that develop the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is important to be consistent in the basic disciplines of knowing God and learning to hear His voice. If you spend time daily seeking God and listening for His voice, you will learn to know His ways. The Spirit of God will bring conviction to your heart and point out areas the He wants you to confess, renounce and forsake. He will not force you to give anything up, but if you refuse to obey Him you may be disciplined severely until you choose to obey. The Holy Spirit loves you and wants to help you obtain your destiny. He is should become your best Friend. His gifts will operate through your life even without His presence and it is possible to abuse the gifts and move into lawlessness. Just because you can prophesy doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit wants you to all the time. You have to learn to walk in the timing of the Holy Spirit in everything. This requires the fruit of patience which is usually the last characteristic we develop. When the Holy Spirit is grieved, you may feel a sensation of alarm deep in your belly. Pay attention to those feelings since the Holy Spirit often speaks through senses and nudges in your inner man. When the Holy Spirit is bearing witness to something being true, you may feel your belly leap with joy. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all

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things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. I John 2:27 The Holy Spirit is a Person and He abides in you to teach you right and wrong. He is with you as the presence of the Father and the Son. He will never leave you or forsake you. It is important to continue daily in fellowship with Him, learn His communication and walk in perfect trust and obedience to Him each day. As you do you will bear fruit for God’s glory and have an incredible everlasting reward with Him some day.

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